Finding Distant Skies
by Apheleia
Summary: May was a normal girl with a normal life in a normal world... well, until she was spontaneously sucked into another vast—yet astonishingly familiar—universe. Separated from her friends in the process, her goal now is to find them again, along with answers. Meeting personalities such as Leaf, Drew, and her Pokemon only add to the adventure, right? Still, time's running out...
1. The Pagoda

**Part I**

* * *

A grinning sophomore stepped out of the back doors, reveling in the sun's weak December warmth as she bounded down the steps. Her brown hair cutely stuck out on both sides of her head in a fashionable, flattering way, though it was a mystery of the school how she managed to keep it as such. A pleasant breeze ruffled the tails of her red bandanna as she inhaled the sweet scent of grass and took off in a dead run in the same second.

The girl's mood had been considerably lifted ever since the bell rang for the end of fifth period, which also meant the beginning of her lunch.

She sprinted across the considerably elegant backyard. She was already late, though it wasn't as if that were new news. Realizing this particular tidbit, her face slacked, her shoulders shrugged, and her pace slowed all the way down to a walk. Might as well take in the serenity of the scenery before the serenity part was ruined, she thought. And so the brunette just did that—deliberately slow her pace to little more than a snail's and admire the particular courtyard of West Riverwater Magnet High she'd already gotten so used to.

The girl slowly—but surely—made her way to the far back corner of the garden, a place people didn't always go because it was farther and more secluded. After passing the familiar stone angel statue and a line of trimmed bushes, she was there.

The pagoda was something of a mistake; she'd accidentally stumbled upon it once when she'd been briefly lost in the garden last year.

And almost immediately, she had fallen in love with it.

It was rustic—a one-tier piece of architecture that wasn't too intricate, yet well-sized and could hold at least a dozen people. Rose vines climbed several of the pillars. Bird droppings littered the rounded roof that resembled that of a dome, and a rounded slab of stone hugged the interior to serve as a bench. The pagoda was located in a spot where trees grew more frequently, and thus shade and cover were both abundant.

If one looked up, there were a series of elegant arabesque designs on the ceiling, dancing and twisting until it all congregated in the middle—a large, clear, cyan crystal that the brunette thought was the most gorgeous color ever. Today, however, when she looked up, her brow furrowed in confusion. For some reason, it was a darker shade of blue than usual—almost navy.

_It's no big deal,_ she reasoned. _P__robably just got dirty or something._

"Hey May!"

"May!"

"Hey guys," May greeted, sitting down on the curved bench. "What's going on?"

"Guess," said June, the girl next to her.

Like May, June Rosenberg was a sophomore, and they'd been friends since freshman orientation. The first thing both of them said after introducing themselves was, "Do your parents have as bad of a sense of humor as mine?" It was indeed true that June had been born in June and May was born in May.

"You'd think that at fifteen and sixteen, they might not be _so_ hung up over Pokemon," said a pretty blue-haired girl on the other side of the pagoda.

Her name was Dawn Berlitz, and unlike the other four current occupants of the pagoda, she was a freshman. On the first day of school that year, she had discovered the pagoda occupied with the sophomores, and though there had initially been a few awkward moments, the girl had quickly fallen into rhythm with the rest of the four when the topic of Pokemon had, inevitably, arose. She still received plenty of lighthearted freshman-related jeers, though. Upon May's appearance, she smiled, crossed the length of the structure, and gave the brunette a quick hug.

"News flash, Dawn, you play Pokemon too," said June, rolling her eyes. Dawn stuck out her tongue at her.

Smiling slightly, May glanced at the scene unraveling before them featuring two boys, neither of whom had seemed to have heard the three girls' short conversation, so focused on their tasks at hand as they were. One of them was Ash Ketchum, a sophomore with hair as black as night. His facial features were currently scrunched in concentration. He wasn't the most handsome guy in school—he had more of a puppy-dog face—but his loyal, positive, and sometimes naïve personality made him friendly with everyone.

The other was Brendan Yuki, also a sophomore. He was definitely one of the finer faces in school, and a gentleman around girls whenever given the chance. His dark hair was almost always hidden by a signature white hat that he wore whenever he could.

"Losing, Ash?" taunted Brendan, grinning in triumph.

Ash frowned as he retorted, "No way, not to _you_!"

It goes without saying that they were in a very intimate Pokemon card battle.

"I've only got one prize card left, and none of you guys have _ever _taken my fully-evolved Swampert," gloated Brendan.

"My Electivire can! I just…don't know where it is right now…" muttered Ash, shooting daggers at his deck that had failed him.

Dawn peered over Ash's shoulder, looking at the cards in his hand and twisting a lock of her cobalt hair around her finger.

"Wow Ash, I don't think you can do much with just a Hoothoot or Magikarp," she commented. "Or a Grass energy card."

"_Dawn_...!"

"Ash, aren't those the weakest basics you've got in there?"

The raven-haired boy flushed.

"Uh…"

"C'mon, Ash—just admit defeat already!"

Ash sulked and tossed the cards in his hand into the middle of the game, giving up. He crossed his arms childishly, pouting and looking away from his friends. Brendan, June, and Dawn snickered.

"Ash, you should get more Supporter cards into your deck."

"But I don't have any!" he retorted, still sour over his second loss in a row.

"You can have some of mine," offered Dawn. "I got like four Professor Elm's Training Methods and two other Supporters in my first _and last_ booster pack, mind you—and not a single _cute_ Pokemon. Can you believe it?" she said in disgust.

"Were they _good_ ones, at least?" asked Ash.

"It was a Nidorino, Feebas, Machoke, and Pinsir," she recited. "Feebas would've been nice, if, y'know, I actually had a Milotic…"

May smiled. She loved her friends. It wasn't as if they were a super unlikely clique, but ultimately, the most important thing that had brought them together was one common interest—Pokemon. Whether it was the cards, the games, the manga, or the show featuring Red, Blue, and Green, the franchise was their own guilty pleasure.

"Hey Ash, I want to see if your deck's really that terrible," mused June. "Let me battle with it against someone?"

Ash frowned, pretty convinced that was a thinly-veiled indirect insult. Then he shrugged.

"Fine, maybe someone else'll have better luck with it than me."

"Dawn, battle me?" offered June, relinquishing her seat beside May.

"Okay!" she replied eagerly. "Regular deck, regular rules, but three prize cards. I have homework I need to do before lunch is over."

With that, she swiftly took out a Ziploc bag labeled "reg deck" that contained exactly sixty cards, and kneeled down on the floor of the pagoda opposite June. Moving over to give them room, Ash took a seat next to them, interested in knowing whether his deck was really so unusable. Brendan found a spot next to May, where June had been sitting earlier.

As the battle began, she found herself drifting off; after all, five hours of sleep the night before does that to a person. She blindly leaned to her right, eventually finding Brendan's left shoulder, relaxing into it wordlessly. She felt Brendan tense for a moment, then relax as he recognized the sudden pressure.

It wasn't long before she drifted off.

* * *

The rest of May's day had crept by, although a bit faster than her earlier classes had. By her last period, Physical Education, May was tired and decided she just no longer cared about the class anymore.

May always looked forward to the end of the day, a time when she and Dawn, June, Ash, and Brendan all congregated again at the pagoda in unspoken tradition. In truth, they didn't often _do_ much when they were here, except sometimes homework, studying, and Pokemon. They usually just relaxed and talked. Maybe walk a few blocks to the corner store for some food, or simply head home after a little while.

Once again, May was the last to arrive at the pagoda.

"Last again, May," joked Brendan. "You must walk the speed of a Torkoal."

May stuck out her tongue at Brendan as everyone else rolled their eyes at the corny Pokemon reference, and said, "I just ran two miles, I have an excuse."

"I saw you in gym. You were _jogging_," he said in a tone of mock disgust. "You weren't even breathing hard."

"Well–" May thought hard for a good response; none came in that instant. "... Not everybody runs cross-country, Brendan!"

"That doesn't even make sense," laughed Brendan.

May playfully blew out a breath, rolled her eyes, and in doing so, had her attention captured by the center of the ceiling for the second time that day. She stared at the crystal for a little while.

"Guys?" she started slowly.

"Yeah, May?"

"I don't think the crystal thing in the middle has always been _black_, has it?" she said as she lifted a finger to point.

Her friends lifted their gazes, and Dawn noted, "I always thought it was blue. That's weird."

"It's probably nothing," said June, shrugging.

As if feeling the sudden intensity of their questioning stares, the crystal suddenly flickered and turned a pale lavender color.

"Okay, _that _wasn't nothing," she quickly amended.

"…it's not a light, right? Because aside from disproving something that we've thought for a really long time, it'd at least make sense and be okay," reasoned Ash.

"If it's a prank, it's a bad one," said Dawn, turning her head and scanning their surroundings.

The closest people were probably a hundred yards away, and they were nonchalantly playing Frisbee. May eyed the same people before deciding they were innocent, and looked back at the crystal. It was now a steel blue.

"This is kinda weird," noted Brendan.

Then the crystal turned black again.

"Uh…"

It faded to lavender.

"Is that a pattern?" asked June, squinting.

Steel blue.

"You bet," said Ash, apprehension beginning to creep into his voice.

Black.

"Uh…"

It was turning colors with abrupt speed now, hardly staying on one hue for longer than a second. Eventually, all it was doing was flashing the same colors over and over again.

"Guys, it's just a rock, but I'm getting a bad feeling," whispered Dawn. "Maybe we should -"

None of them would ever learn what Dawn thought they should've done, as she was abruptly cut off by a sudden flash of bright, blinding white light and roaring wind.

"…Guys?!"

May felt the ground whisk away from underneath her. Or maybe she was whisking away from the ground. She heard Dawn and herself scream. In a corner of her mind, May wondered if anyone else was seeing this right now.

"_Help!_" she tried to shout.

The current got faster, stronger. It began blowing at tornado-like speeds, whipping their hair painfully into their faces and necks. The light grew even brighter, if that was possible.

Then they were quickly sucked, without their permission, into some sort of black hole that had ripped open in front of them.

* * *

One of the students playing Frisbee stopped. "Did you hear something?" he asked.

His friend stared at him incredulously, and said, "No?"

"I could've sworn someone screamed 'help'... or something," he said as he looked in the direction of the pagoda, and then scanned the area. Nobody was anywhere near. He shrugged. "Guess I'm not getting enough sleep," he joked, returning the Frisbee.

* * *

May was falling.

The wind had died down considerably, although it must have still been fifty, sixty mile-per-hour winds. It felt like it was carrying her.

It was kind of warm, the feeling engulfing her. For a moment, she simply reveled in the comfortable temperature, and the feeling as if she hadn't a worry in the world washed over her.

Then she remembered.

She tried to open her eyes to see, but it was still far too bright, and thus had to shut them immediately. It was like looking into the sun, only the sun was all around her.

"Guys?" she tried to call, but no words came out as the wind shoved the word back down her throat.

Now, she was a bit more than afraid. Try terrified.

After what may have either been two seconds or forever, she noticed the wind had died away, and then felt something.

Hard.

May had literally crashed into the Earth. It hurt, but it wasn't bone-breaking pain - and there were more pressing things to worry about. She sucked in a deep breath, as the tornado-wind-thing had knocked everything from her lungs.

May chanced opening her eyes. She saw the bright, blue, vast sky, as a flock of something flew by overhead. A shock ran through her a second later as she registered what she saw.

_Those are Pidgey..._

"Guys?" she called again.

There was no answer but silence.

Groggily, she lifted her head and scanned her surroundings. She seemed to be on the outskirts of a town of some sorts, though from what she could tell, the houses were a bit simple.

Her fall had been broken by lush, long grass, and behind her were trees for as far as she could see. A single worn dirt path cut through the foliage of bushes, plants, and dew, and it all seemed to stretch endlessly.

She squinted for anything—her friends, hints, other people, even Pokemon, as long as she wasn't going crazy seeing those Pidgey. This obviously wasn't the campus of West Riverwater anymore, and absurd had already been thrown out the window. Her friends certainly weren't within a several hundred-yard radius of her.

There were a few people deeper in the town, going about their business. A few children were playing. Nobody noticed her, nor the fact that she had apparently materialized out of the sky.

If she looked closely, she would've seen a Hoothoot napping in the tree closest to her, a Pidgeotto pecking at a Weedle some eight feet away, and a Caterpie watching her curiously from the safety of a bush.

However, her attention was caught and held by a wooden sign a few yards away from her, facing the path that led into the forest.

Neatly printed on the flat surface were the words, "_Welcome to Petalburg City_ – where people mingle with nature."

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Thanks for reading :) reviews are welcome!


	2. The Dojo

May quickly racked her brain, searching through years of Pokemon video games and episodes. Petalburg. She concentrated.

_Petalburg...is a gym city in..._

She felt a wave of adrenaline consume her, and a ball of nervousness begin clenching in her stomach.

_Hoenn..._

"Dawn! Brendan!" she screamed desperately, trying once more to get a read on the whereabouts of her friends. "June! Ash..." She faltered on the last name, when the realization that she really was alone for at least hundreds of yards hit her like a bag of bricks. She wasn't sure quite how she knew, but she had a hunch that none of her friends were within range of her for at least miles.

She stood up slowly, pain still radiating from her upper back and bottom, where she had landed the hardest.

_It's a dream, _she consoled herself_. I must've fallen asleep again... It's a dream._

She attempted to pinch herself. The moment she lifted her hand was the moment she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, as the ball of nervousness thrashed again. She never had control of herself or anything in her dreams. Never.

She brought her hand up next to her cheek, grasped a part of her skin, and pinched. The pain felt realistic.

But this situation wasn't.

May felt herself nearing the edge of tears. Since childhood, she'd be one to cry easily. However, she thought she was rather justified this time. Her friends had disappeared, it wasn't a dream, and she was in this... world where _real_ Pokemon seemingly inhabited the lands. No real solution for this mess presented itself to her at that moment, either.

Nervously gulping down saliva she hadn't realized she had been collecting, she took a look down at her body. She was still donning the artfully faded navy jeans, white camisole, black flats, and well-fitted gray cardigan with intricate red designs she had picked out this morning.

Reaching up for the top of her head, she felt the cloth of her bandanna, surprised it hadn't been ripped away from her in the tornado. The weight of her bright yellow backpack made itself known on her back, and she felt it in its bulk when she reached back to touch it, to make sure it really was there.

May wasn't sure what to do from here on. Should she lay here, on the edge of wilderness, go to sleep, and maybe wake up again in the pagoda back at West Riverwater? She clung to the idea that this alternate universe may still be a dream, though half of her conscious brain snorted at the idea.

Or should she brush herself off, swallow her tears, and head into the heart of Petalburg City on a quest for answers, with no promises of who or what was in there?

May brushed the dirt off her clothes the best she could. She gulped again, and rubbed her eyes to rid of any moisture. Then she took a step, and another, and another, until it was a steady walk, into Petalburg City.

* * *

Despite the name, May didn't think it was much of a city; it really was more a small, perhaps medium-sized town. Houses littered the space here and there, and trees grew quite a bit. On her way in, she had passed a decently-sized lake, and she spied another one farther away.

People bustled in and out of houses, on the streets. Most of them were about middle-aged, noted May. She also saw elders, though not as often. She also saw groups of small children—no older than ten, she reasoned—playing with Pokemon and toys.

The sight of Pokemon still surprised her. She was able to identify most of them... Persians, Rattatas, and even a Spinda. Normal-types, she realized. She had been playing with the franchise since as long as she could remember, though she never flaunted it in front of anyone's face. Most of her friends in middle school hadn't been the biggest fans of Pokemon, so she had kept her love for it under wraps.

It wasn't long before she passed a red-roofed building, and it was easily one of the biggest buildings in the whole town. It was elegantly built, too - mostly of glass and white brick, and the roof was rounded. She saw people constantly walking in and out, some of them clutching wounded Pokemon, others tiredly shuffling in. Most of them seemed to be around her age, she mused. Trainers.

_I guess this is the Pokemon Center..._

She was going to walk in, maybe ask for help, or perhaps for the reason of simply having the opportunity to talk to another human. Find out if they spoke English here.

She was, anyway. Until her attention was caught by another piece of architecture to the immediate right of the PokeCenter. It resembled a dojo, perched on a hill, and had at least two dozen stone steps leading up to it. May slowly made her way over to the great building. A large wooden dojo, with a blue brick roof. Foliage grew alongside the steps. An upright slab of stone told her that this was the Petalburg Gym.

She gazed upon the gym for what seemed like quite a while. Somehow, this was the building that had brought her to reality; she was in the Pokemon world. There were Pokemon, and Pokemon Centers, and Pokemon gyms. She assumed the presence of a gym meant there was also a League, and badges, and Elite Fours, and countless aspiring young trainers...

But it still felt so unreal. There was no shroud of sense here. For all she knew, before this whole ordeal, Pokemon weren't real. They belonged in video games, cartoons, Japanese comics. The only times a human could use a Pokemon was through a DS, Gameboy, or TCG cards.

May was still mulling everything over as she stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the wooden dojo. She had no idea what she was supposed to do from here on out. Assuming this really was not a dream, what did anybody expect her to do now? She hadn't a Pokemon, nor her friends, and she had no idea if the rest of this dimension was at all in accordance to the franchise she knew and loved. If so, then it'd be a lot easier. If not... well, then as far as getting through this world, her knowledge of the franchise was about as pointless as a Ditto fighting another Ditto.

"Beautiful thing, isn't it?"

May jumped a little at the low, smooth voice. She immediately turned her head to her right, seeing a man who was now staring at the establishment the same way she had been just before. He was clad in a crimson jacket, jeans, and what seemed to be hiking boots. His short hair was a peculiar shade of dark purple, nearly navy, and was cut a bit strangely for May's tastes. His eyes were about the exact same color as his hair, and they shined with a certain degree of pride watching the building. If she had to, she'd guess he was late thirties, early forties.

"Yes," May heard herself murmur. "Is this the Pokemon gym of Petalburg?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

"That's right," replied the man, his eyes twinkling as he turned to look at her. "Are you a challenger?"

May felt herself flush a little as, with a sheepish grin, she truthfully replied, "Well, no... I don't have a Pokemon."

The man blinked at her in shock and confusion. She was obviously quite into her teenage years already, far surpassing the requirement of ten to receive a Pokemon, an age that all children anticipated eagerly.

"What do you mean?"

"Um..." May bit her lip, unsure of how to answer. "I'm from a place where there aren't Pokemon," she answered. At least that much was true. "I left home, and before I knew it, I wound up here." At least that was half-true.

"Hmm..." mused the man. "Well, that's a problem. You probably won't survive in these lands without a single Pokemon," he laughed. "I'm Norman," he introduced, sticking out his open hand.

"I'm May," she said, taking his hand.

Norman grinned, and said, "Come with me, May," as he began ascending the steps.

May watched him for a little while. She remembered the whole "Don't go with strangers" she had been taught her whole life. But Norman seemed nice, and there was a plentiful amount of people in and around the dojo.

Deciding she could always run if something seemed wrong, she hurriedly followed after him.

* * *

The pair stood in front of an entrance that seemed as ancient as the style the building was built in. Norman reached for the handle and pulled the door open effortlessly, although the hinges creaked as he did, groaning about its years.

Stepping inside the dojo, May discovered they were once again met with another formidable-looking pair of double doors in a dimly lit room. However, Norman averted it, and instead made his way to the left to a considerably thinner door shrouded in darkness. May saw him take out a card of some sorts and flash it in front of a scanner. A click ensued, and Norman again effortlessly pulled open the door.

He wordlessly walked in with May following him as they let the door shut quietly on its own. May now found themselves in a brightly-lit yet narrow and bare hallway. Walking behind the rather tall Norman, she couldn't see if there was an end destination, or where it was.

She was beginning to think the passage would never end, until they turned a slight angle and Norman opened another door, this time without creaking or flashing a card. He held it open.

"Ladies first," he said politely.

May smiled at him. She wondered if he must've been _quite _the ladies man when he was younger by the use of kindness. The idea of such a character reminded her of Brendan, and the pang of dread and uncertainty stabbed her in the stomach. She hoped her friends were alright, wherever they were.

She stepped into the room as she heard Norman shut the door behind her. Scanning the room, she saw windows line one wall, and numerous certificates and awards decorate another.

Above all, it seemed like an office. A large wooden desk stood to the side, and important-looking documents cluttered the top of it. A simple rug laid in the middle of the room, and a bookshelf positioned itself near the door. Another door was present on the other side of the room. In the corner nearest the other door, there was a futuristic-looking machine that very much resembled a copy machine.

"Have a seat," said Norman, gesturing to the comfy-looking couches lined up against the wall.

May sat down gratefully, muttering a quiet "thank you".

"I'm actually a bit excited. This is a job that's usually left to Professors," he commented as he crossed the room to the futuristic copy machine thing.

"So then… what're you?" asked May accusingly.

"I'm Norman Maple, official Normal-type gym leader of the Petalburg City Gym," he recited, as if this was one introduction he had done all too many times before.

"What's the job?"

Looking back at her with a grin, he said, "Starting a trainer on their journey."

May's mouth hung slightly open, not yet registering what he'd said. "_What?"_

Norman chuckled. "My son and daughter received their first Pokemon from the main Professor of Hoenn, Professor Birch, a Torchic and Treecko. I can't say I offer quite the same rarity of species, though," he said, looking back at the brunette with a slightly apologetic glance.

May was silent.

"But I do have a Pokemon who _I_ think is the best starter," he said proudly. "It starts out as a Normal-type, which, y'know, is obviously the best type." He winked. "But it can evolve into numerous different types, giving the trainer in question a lot more choices-"

"-an Eevee," breathed May, interrupting him.

Norman looked at the girl approvingly, and said, "That's right, I'm surprised you know, coming from a place where Pokemon don't exist."

Flushing, May stammered, "Ah, w-well… I've still learned about them."

"That's good, you'll be well-prepared," replied Norman with a grin as he turned back to the machine to press more buttons. "Originally, I was going to give it to my daughter when she came back to Petalburg for a visit."

"Oh, I can't take it then… if it's meant for your daughter," murmured May, a frown etching into her face.

"Don't be silly," chuckled Norman. "She's gone to plenty of regions, caught plenty of Pokemon. She would've wanted you, a Pokemon-less girl, to have it anyways."

May didn't know what to say. She was overwhelmed by Norman's kindness. And his daughter's, if he was right about her. "Thank you," she finally murmured.

"It's my pleasure… Ah, here we go. Really, this PokeBall organizer is more work than it's worth…"

Right as he said that, the machine began humming. Both May and Norman watched the organizer work, and a ledge that May had thought was a cup holder began emanating a flickering blue light. A figure of a sphere began materializing, and when the light disappeared, a regular red and white Pokeball sat there staring at May.

"Wow, that just… I mean… it _materialized_…" May was stunned. Technology back home didn't work like this.

Norman grabbed the Pokeball, blowing some dust off it. He crossed the room to May, and held it out to her. May stared at the Pokeball.

_This is really happening… A gym leader's giving me an Eevee…_

"Take it," chuckled Norman. "If I remember correctly, it knows the moves Quick Attack, Take Down, Shadow Ball, and…" He frowned, the last move escaping him. "Oh! And Last Resort," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Knew that."

In a trance, May took it. "Thank you," she said again, grasping the warm sphere in her hand.

It wasn't too heavy—perhaps about the weight of an empty glass jar of about the same size. She lightly traced the metal strip that separated the red and white parts of the ball with her finger.

May Maple had just received her first Pokemon.

* * *

She couldn't quite place _exactly_ why, but she was feeling better by tenfold ever since her encounter with Norman. A lot more like the usual bubbly, confident May. She was walking down the path that led from Petalburg to the direct north, a road that would take her to Rustboro City.

When May had confided in Norman that she had been separated from her friends and had no idea where they were, he had thoughtfully suggested she first search for them in the closest big city—Rustboro.

After giving her the Eevee, Norman had also given her a simple map of Hoenn. He noted her unforgiving long jeans and flats, so May followed him to the entrance of his house (which happened to be right behind the gym) where he searched his daughter's old clothes that she had practically left to rot a while ago.

"I need a fresh start for Kanto," his daughter had insisted.

He and Caroline, his wife, had eventually given in and spoiled her with a brand new outfit.

He gave May a pair of his daughter's old—but by no means unwearable—jean shorts that rode about ten inches above May's knees. They were modest enough, and she could get through the hotter parts of the day. He also dug out a pair of his daughter's old running shoes he knew she wouldn't use anymore.

May was grateful to Norman beyond belief. For one, she couldn't stand the heat. Two, she wasn't sure exactly how far she'd have to go to reunite with her friends, or do whatever she needed to do. Three, well, he _gave_ her an _Eevee._

As she walked north leaving Petalburg, the bounce was back in her step, along with hope. Hope that she would find her friends. Hope that she'd figure out exactly what happened, and why she was here. Hope that this didn't end up being a dream, because well, a world of Pokemon really didn't sound that bad anymore.

* * *

Brendan had fallen literally two feet away from a small, wooden sign that had simply read "Welcome to Littleroot Town." After regaining his composure, and a few slightly embarrassing conversations, the Professor of the town, Birch, had figured out that Brendan was of age yet didn't have a single Pokemon. He had decided to change that.

Brendan had headed north almost immediately after he received a Mudkip and a map from Professor Birch. After all, it was the only direction he _could_ go while staying within the region. Not that he was sure that his friends were all in Hoenn; Professor Birch had revealed that the regions of Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh all bordered Hoenn. This hadn't lifted Brendan's spirits much.

He had quickly made his way to Oldale Town. At his brisk pace, it hadn't taken longer than twenty minutes. It only took Brendan a brief search of Oldale to realize none of his friends were near, and thus, he had proceeded to Petalburg. The road to Petalburg took a bit longer than from Littleroot to Oldale—about an hour's worth of a fast adrenaline-sustained walk-jog.

When he had reached Petalburg, he had gone around a bit, asking the townspeople if they recognized any of the descriptions he gave of his friends.

He only received one lead, and it'd been from a middle-aged man who claimed he had seen the brunette in his description. Brendan's heart leapt. Who else even had hair like May's? The man had directed Brendan to go north, where he claimed May had gone in search of _her_ friends only an hour ago.

Brendan had never tried to run as fast as he did for as long as he did in his life.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Thanks for reading :) Reviews are appreciated!


	3. The Cardigan

May was daydreaming.

After all, she didn't have much to do. It seemed that crossing an entire route from one city to another was quite the daunting task in the Pokemon world. If the Pokemon cartoon back in her world – by some fate – actually accurately portrayed _this _Pokemon world, then she would give all her respect to every single trainer on that show, particularly Red.

But as if the length wasn't bad enough, being alone made it worse.

So for the long, winding road to Rustboro City, May talked to herself.

Thought to herself?

Same thing, she decided.

Of course, she wasn't _really_ alone. She had an Eevee available one PokeBall toss away, and by the sound of it, there were plenty of Pokemon surrounding her on both sides of the route. Perhaps even watching her every move.

She wondered if she should've been weary of them, but reasoned that if they were anything like forest animals, then they were usually just as apprehensive of her as she was of them. So far, that saying seemed to have held up true – nothing had bothered her journey since she left Petalburg about an hour and a half ago after bidding Norman one final grateful thanks. After all, he had been incredibly gracious to her, both with the hospitality and the gifts, including the Eevee.

The Eevee.

May still couldn't believe it. Here she was, about four hours after the bell signaling the end of her last class had rung (unless the crazy tornado-magic-hole thing had summoned her to a totally different timeframe), and she was clutching a _PokeBall_ containing an _Eevee_ in it.

She wasn't sure why she hadn't released the Eevee yet, why she hadn't decided to meet it yet. May _loved _gifts, presents, surprises…Plus she loved Pokemon, having wished since she was a child that they were real. And yet…

Was it because she still felt guilty about taking it from Norman's daughter, the original receiver?

Perhaps she was scared to finally, _officially _meet a Pokemon to call her own?

Or maybe she was just _waiting_ for something? For someone to ask about it, or a situation that required her to toss that red-white PokeBall so that it wasn't her decision?

She wearily wondered if her friends would ask. If she ever saw them again, anyways.

She wondered how they were doing. Although she had never actually accumulated evidence suggesting so, she had a growing feeling that they had ended up in the same situation as her - thrown onto the ground somewhere in this Pokemon-inhabited world, and being forced to make a move into this unknown.

May sincerely hoped with all of her pure, well-intentioned heart that her friends were alright.

Her spirits were slightly brightened by the chirping of Pidgeys and Taillows in the trees. Sometimes, there would be a tussle between two Pokemon every now and then beside the road, and May would watch them as she walked by, bemused. She also saw the occasional Wurmple squirming along the side of the road; of course, she hadn't tried to catch any of said Pokemon. She didn't even have any PokeBalls.

But that wasn't quite the point.

* * *

Brendan was a bit out of breath, that he'd admit. But his legs were still surging with adrenaline that seemed to completely recharge after the idea of meeting up with May invaded his mind again, and he pushed on.

He had tightened his backpack so that it wasn't as much as a bouncing hindrance when he ran, although it was still slowing him down. Also, it probably wasn't normal for him to have such an adrenaline rush for such a long time. Then again, this situation and all the prior events in the last few hours couldn't be considered normal either, he reasoned.

Despite all the pain, sweat, and time it had cost him, at this particular point in his life, Brendan was _extremely _thankful that he had decided to sign up on a whim for cross-country at the beginning of his freshman year. It turned out that he was rather good at it too; his crowning achievement thus far had been top twenty at the State Championships this past season.

He was also thankful for still having good eyesight, because the moment he saw a _speck _that even _resembled _a bobbing red bandanna and bright yellow backpack, he shouted with all his voice "May!" as if it were the last word that would ever come out of his mouth.

* * *

May had been aimlessly thinking about the pros of this situation – such as not needing to attend a Geometry lecture for as long as she was here – when she heard her name faintly, yet desperately screamed.

Then she stopped in her tracks, because she recognized that voice.

* * *

Brendan was thankful she had heard him on the first try, and he knew she did when he saw the redness of her bandanna stop bobbing nearly immediately. That shout had taken just about everything from his lungs in a single moment, and he was now breathing noticeably harder than before to keep up with his body's demand for oxygen.

Regardless, he kept running straight for that signature red bandanna and neon yellow backpack.

But he wasn't going to lie, he was tired. Extremely tired. So he was glad when she rapidly became closer and closer, and elated when he realized that the reason was that she was sprinting towards him too.

* * *

When they had been a yard away from each other, May had opened her arms so that her hands were horizontally in line with her shoulder - the universal sign that showed the said person was expecting a hug.

The two collided into a tight, fervent embrace. Relief flooded both of them and threatened to overwhelm them. May squeezed Brendan, unable to believe he was here. She felt his breath tickle her upper back as he inhaled and exhaled in a tired attempt to keep up with his body's demand for oxygen. She knew he was exhausted from running what must have been all the distance she had covered since Petalburg and _more_, but nonetheless, she still felt his crushing grip from all the power of his toned male body.

May closed her eyes.

She found herself squeezing harder, though she knew that it was probably a hindrance in his oxygen recovery. Nonetheless, he hadn't seemed to mind.

"...Brendan, I'm gonna end up never letting go," she murmured, burying her face into his shirt.

"I know," he breathed, unable to say much more.

* * *

"So tell me what happened to you!" said May brightly, glad to finally have a conversational partner in addition to getting a friend back.

After about a minute of their bordering-violent embrace (which is quite long as far as hugs go), they'd eventually broken apart and resumed the road to Rustboro City. Brendan agreed that attempting to find the rest of their scattered gang in Rustboro was as good an idea as any.

Brendan grinned, looking down at the bubbly brunette by his side.

"Nothin' much, you?"

May made sure to roll her eyes before replying, "I fell into Petalburg and the gym leader gave me a lot of useful things, including an Eevee. Now you."

"He gave you an Eevee?" said Brendan, gaping.

"That was my reaction! Well, I didn't react in third person, but…"

"All the evolutions… You'll have so many options… I'm almost jealous."

May stuck out her tongue at him.

"Almost?" she teased. Then she eyed the Pokeball hanging on a short lanyard hanging from his belt, and said, "I'm sure there's something in _that_ PokeBall too."

"Alright alright… hold your Ponytas."

May rolled her eyes at the corny Pokemon reference.

"Here's basically how it went. I fell out of the sky into Littleroot Town, apparently the place of parents and kids up to nine. I ran into this Pokemon professor, Birch, and he just gave me a Pokemon," he said, shrugging. "Then I went the only direction I _could_ go, to Oldale Town. There wasn't much there, either. So I went to Petalburg, and a man told me where someone who really looked like you had gone... And, well," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Here I am."

"What Pokemon?" asked May as she eyed him.

"A Mudkip…"

"That's amazing! I love Mudkips!" squealed May as her eyes brightened.

Brendan chuckled at her enthusiasm, though it eventually died off into more of a nervous laugh.

"Well, to tell the truth, I haven't let it out of its Ball yet…" he admitted.

"Me either," confessed May, relieved she wasn't the only one feeling such a way in such a situation. "It still feels a bit unreal, and I just feel like… I don't know… I'm not mentally prepared, or something…"

"Exactly." Then he followed up with, "Well, I _was_ chasing you for what seemed like forever… Now, if you only walked that fast to the pagoda everyday, you wouldn't be last all the time."

May playfully shoved him away, giggling.

The two then settled into a brief period of silence, each recalling the pagoda, the school, their friends… It all felt so distant.

Deciding she didn't want to go there in her thoughts, not yet, May started a new subject. She didn't want to break down in sobs in the middle of the road.

Noting that the sky was already turning shades of pink and crimson, she started, "So… assume we don't make it to Rustboro City by nightfall."

"And?" asked Brendan, not quite sure where she was going.

May huffed a sarcastic yet playful sigh.

"... Oh! Um…" stammered Brendan as less-than-appropriate thoughts invaded Brendan's mind for a brief moment before he forced them away. "Well, we could just keep walking through the night. We'd get there eventually."

"I'd drop asleep in the middle of the night, and you wouldn't hear a wink from me until dawn," countered May.

This time, it was Brendan's turn to huff a sarcastic sigh.

"Of course you would…"

"Well, then, we've got a problem," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," snorted Brendan.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm."

Brendan heard himself laugh. "Wait... I just remembered that Professor Birch gave me some kind of really small pad of some kind of fabric or something. He said it was a sleeping bag," he said as he then made a face that May couldn't quite interpret.

"A really small sleeping bag? That's helpful," scoffed May. "Show me."

Still walking, Brendan slung the left backpack strap off of his shoulder, bringing it around on his right side. He fumbled with a zipper, opened one of the front pockets, reached in, and pulled out what seemed to be a moderately thick cobalt pad of some sort. May held out her hand, and Brendan handed it to her, closing his backpack and swinging it back into its regular position as she examined the blue object.

Brendan hadn't lied. It was slightly larger than the size of an average square Post-It, and it certainly _felt _like the taffeta that lined her sleeping bag at home.

Home. It punched May with a pang of longing.

She brushed those thoughts away, deciding to focus on the so-called sleeping bag.

"What's this?" she muttered, noticing a suspicious, thin black rope that protruded from a fold of the sleeping bag

Her curiosity got the better of her, and before consulting Brendan, she tugged at it. The small pad of fabric exploded, immediately expanding into a sizable sleeping bag that consumed her body. May yelped, getting the attention of Brendan, who hadn't been paying attention to her playing with the contraption.

"May-! …Oh," he said as he began laughing.

"Don't laugh!" scolded May, slightly stuck and tangled as the end of the sleeping bag hung limply from her forehead.

"Sorry," apologized Brendan very un-apologetically. "Here," he murmured as he pulled the sleeping bag off of her. "Since you've already so gracefully figured out the sleeping bag, why don't we set up camp now?"

"Camp?" asked May warily.

"Yeah, like in the show," said Brendan as he grinned and his eyes brightened. "Setting up sleeping bags, food, maybe a fire…"

"No. No fires. The last time I was near a campfire, my hair caught on flames. No," she said, her tone absolute.

"Okay, no fires. Still, though. What do you say?" asked Brendan excitedly.

Still apprehensive, May wearily muttered, "You know, the actual thing probably isn't as easy as they make it look on Pokemon."

"Who knows how long we'll be here. If anything, we'll have to get used to it," argued Brendan.

May decided he had a point.

"Alright..." she finally conceded.

She took a brief scan of their surroundings. The dirt road still seemed to stretch for a while, with no visible view of Rustboro in sight. On their right, the trees were still thick, and probably dense with Pokemon. On their left, however, the forest had eventually cleared. The result was a grassy hill that gently sloped down into a high, sheer cliff overlooking a beautiful body of water that stretched past the horizon.

"Let's set up over here," she said, gesturing to the edge of the trees.

"Do you have food?" asked Brendan as he set the sleeping bag flat on the ground along with his backpack.

Frowning, May said, "Well, a few packs of snacks I keep for emergencies… Cheez-its, cookies, and maybe half a dozen sticks of gum left? It's not much…"

"I don't even have anything," sighed Brendan; then, his eyes lit up again. "May, y'think there're berries around?"

"Berries?" May arched an eyebrow. "Berries. As in Pecha, Oran, Sitrus…"

"Hey, if everything else exists, why not the natural food of the Pokemon world?"

"What if it's poisonous?"

"I'll eat it first."

"You're hopeless."

Brendan smirked.

"I know."

Much to Brendan's triumph and May's defeat, they eventually gathered enough peach-sized Oran and Persim berries to fill their bellies for the night. Plus, to bravely prove his point, Brendan had already taken a large bite of both types of berries and avoided dropping dead. May was still skeptical, stubbornly claiming that she wouldn't take a bite unless he remained alive for the next hour.

Despite the addition of a comfy, well-sized sleeping bag, the pair was still unsure of their sleeping arrangement. After all, the two acknowledged, they were opposite genders and of an age when hormonal levels went crazy before the people those hormonal levels belonged to had realized they'd even said "I love you".

So, although May was against it, she couldn't come up with a different arrangement, and Brendan had insisted upon it anyways. May ended up with the sleeping bag, and Brendan rested against his backpack, leaning against a tree.

As night enveloped the sky, stars began peeking out, dotting the dark canvas with specks of light. The crescent moon shone brightly, putting all other objects in the sky to shame. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"It's beautiful," sighed May, gazing at the sight.

"Looks the same as it does back home," noted Brendan.

"Do you think they're worried?" whispered May.

"Who?"

"Our family! Our parents, our friends… All of us are missing... From... the lives of people who care about us."

Brendan wasn't sure how to reply. He hadn't thought about that issue much. Of course, he had been avoiding thinking about the topic in the first place.

"And school," continued May. "There goes my perfect attendance when I don't show up for class tomorrow. And maybe the day after that. And maybe the day after _that._ And maybe-"

Cutting her off, he snapped, "Okay, okay, I get your gist."

There was a brief silence, and Brendan immediately felt bad for snapping at May.

"…Sorry," he muttered. With a sigh, he continued, "I'm just... I don't want to think about all the complications right now."

Another period of silence.

"I understand," said May apologetically.

_Why's she the one sounding sorry?_ thought Brendan, slightly frustrated. She turned to look at him.

"Maybe when we wake up in the morning, we'll be back in the pagoda again, and you'll be shaking me awake because I fell asleep on you again," she murmured as she gave a rueful smile.

"You know, my arm falls asleep when you do that. Cuts off circulation and everything. I can't even move my arm to get you off once it goes numb."

"Sorry. You need to wake me up if I do that," said May, smiling sheepishly.

Brendan smirked. It was the kind of smirk he would show every now and then to girls back home in certain conversational situations, and if her heart hadn't melted already, well, it would then. If it _had _already melted, then that smirk rendered it to steam. Of course, he didn't know this.

"It's fine. I can judge if you're gaining weight or not by how heavy you are when you lean against me."

May gasped at him in mock horror.

"_No_!"

He kept smirking.

So May decided to get him back on the one thing he was sensitive about concerning his personality.

"Yeah? Well, when you smirk like that, it changes _all _the girls you talk to into _mindless, lovesick zombies."_

Now it was Brendan's turn to blush, if slightly.

"That's not true…" he muttered.

"Half of the girls in school are attracted to you," May said smugly. "And then you're a nice guy too, and once they see that, they just _swoon all_ over you..."

"They don't! All of them are just friends, I don't see them in that way. Ever… And I'm _never_ leading them on."

"Okay," said May. "And I'm the princess of Hoenn."

"Perhaps you are." He grinned, and a counterattack flashed into his mind. "So you said when I smirk like… however I smirk... it's really attractive to _all_ the girls?"

"Something like that," said May, now absentmindedly playing with her hair.

"Does that mean _you're_ attracted when I smirk?"

May froze. She slowly turned around to face Brendan once more, an unreadable but definitely serious expression on her face.

Brendan was slightly intimidated. Had he gone too far?

May stared into his eyes. He stared back, unwilling to back down from his taunt, though the awkwardness was beginning to consume him. After what seemed like forever, May finally shrugged, breaking the staring contest.

"No," she laughed. "I wouldn't like you. It's like this unspoken rule in our group that nobody falls for someone else, ever."

Silence.

"Y'know, I... well, liked you."

May's face froze.

"Huh?"

"Yeah... last year. You were one of my first friends when you sat next to me in the beginning of the year in Bio, so... I couldn't help it. You're pretty, smart, charming…"

May fought to keep the blush off her face, though it crept on anyways. Nonetheless, her expression was still suspicious.

"But you stopped, right?"

"Yeah, of course. It was just a short crush," he said quickly. Frowning, he continued, "This doesn't make anything awkward right? It was in the past. Super small thing, you know."

May breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, of course," she said, smiling. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"You're like my little sister," he commented fondly.

"I'm older than you," countered May.

"Come now, May, does thirteen days really count? I'm so much more mature than you, anyways."

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

May wordlessly engaged in another fierce staring competition with Brendan. Then, simultaneously, they broke into peals of laughter.

"We sound like Jimmy and Marina when they're having a rough day," giggled May.

"It was kind of fun," said Brendan.

Then he shivered. The brunette frowned.

"Are you cold?"

"No, I just… I'm fine," he said quickly, although May was already shedding her cardigan. "No, don't-"

"Take it," she insisted, and before he could refuse again, she threw the piece of clothing at him. "I took the sleeping bag. At the very least, _you _need more layers."

"…Thanks," grunted Brendan reluctantly, his pride nearly getting the better of him; nonetheless, he draped the soft clothing over the front of his body.

"I'm kind of tired," said May. She then yawned, as if on cue, and muttered, "Sleep?"

"Gladly," replied Brendan. He heard the soft rustle of the sleeping bag as May squirmed into it, trying to get comfortable.

"Good night," he heard her whisper.

"S'dreams..." he mumbled.

That night, Brendan fell asleep the quickest he ever had since he was a toddler, and it was to the sweet poppy-strawberry scent of May's favorite cardigan.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Too much Hoennshipping? Haha :) I think I just converted myself into a part-time Hoennshipper :') that doesn't change my original intentions for this story, though. More characters in the next update!

Reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading! xx


	4. The Metropolis

As the soft light of day slowly began brightening the sky, May felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness in accordance to the amount of light that struck her face. When it eventually became too bright and the bird Pokemon too loud, the brunette softly groaned, rubbed her eyes, and sat up.

She groggily took in her surroundings. Yep, it was how everything had been last night – the route, the sea, the forest behind her… Obviously, her falling into the Pokemon world only yesterday hadn't been a dream. There was clearly more to explore in this world, and some part of May was eager about that, but at the same time, she knew she wanted to be back home.

Home. The thought still twisted May's insides.

There was also Brendan, still softly snoozing about a yard away from her. Draped with May's cardigan and protected from the brightness by the tree he was under, she thought it to be a good idea to wake him soon.

Not yet, though. He'd done much more work than her yesterday, what with his mini-marathon in his one day trip to catch up to her, and he needed whatever extra rest he could get.

She smiled, remembering yesterday, and their conversation from the night before. In retrospect, it'd actually been quite adorable. Brendan's tardy confession, their lighthearted mocking, and the deep topics they'd discussed…

The dawn air was still chilly, and May shivered. She glanced at Brendan again, longing for her cardigan, yet she knew that the action would wake him. Clenching her teeth, she pushed through the cold as she began packing up the sleeping bag.

It took a sizable amount of time, as she couldn't figure out exactly _how_ to get it back into its original napkin-sized shape. It absolutely confounded her. So she pulled and crushed and folded until she ended up tugging the suspicious black string farther than it should've gone, and the entire thing neatly collapsed back into its original efficient size. May gaped. The effects were seriously like a bad magic trick.

With Brendan still sound asleep, May decided to take the liberty of refilling each of their water bottles. After last night's berry-dominated meal, they'd also whittled down their supply of water, and both agreed that it wasn't such a great idea to attempt to make it down to the waterfront when it had already gotten dark.

Grabbing both of their stainless steel bottles, May glanced back one last time at the camp before carefully trudging down the steep slope on the other side of the route, leaving Brendan and the rest of their possessions alone and unguarded.

* * *

Brendan stirred when a small leaf floated onto his face, tickling him.

Blinking open one bleary eye, he quickly noticed his traveling partner's absence when there was no response to his soft mumble of, "May?"

His heart immediately accelerated. Their backpacks were both still there, and what remained of last night's collection of assorted berries laid untouched on a nearby napkin. The cobalt sleeping bag had been carefully set on top of May's backpack, returned to its original compact size.

But where was_ she_?

"May!" he rasped, then winced as his dry morning throat punished him for his rashness.

He reached for his water bottle – and then he noticed that it wasn't there. His eyes quickly darted to May's backpack. Hers wasn't in her water bottle pocket either. He could only assume that she had headed down to the shore to prep herself and their water bottles for the rest of their journey today. Some part of him relaxed, yet the other half remained tense. He wouldn't be completely at ease until she returned.

Deciding to make himself useful while waiting, he wrapped up the rest of their berries and carefully set them in the front pocket of his bag. Then he brushed himself off – after all, dirt tends to accumulate when you spend the better part of the night on the edge of forest floor.

And that was it. He couldn't really do much more. They'd started out simple anyways, and May had apparently already done the harder parts. Nibbling on a berry he'd taken before he put them away, he sat down again, holding May's cardigan in his right hand and gazing thoughtfully at it.

He reminisced about last night, how she'd so easily given up her cardigan to him when she saw he had been in need. It then struck him how chilly the air was in that moment, and he was pretty sure she'd headed down in only her camisole and pants. She didn't want to wake me, he realized.

Frowning, he continued to stare at the cardigan. Her dependent kindness was one of the things that had made him fall for her so long ago. Last year, she'd easily given him one of her favorite mechanical pencils when he had needed one. The body was a spectacular shade of cerulean with shimmering silver accents, and it glided _so_ smoothly. It soon became his favorite as well, and he'd kept it well-preserved ever since.

Brendan sighed. He knew he said he'd gotten over her long ago. And yet…

He recalled last night before he drifted asleep. The sweetly floral yet fruity scent of May's cardigan just about intoxicated him, but in a good way. Maybe if he…

After looking up to see if anyone was around and hearing intently for any footsteps, he eventually decided the coast was clear. Hoping he wasn't going to come off as a creep to anyone who decided to surprise him (and hoping he wasn't going to come off as a creep to _himself), _Brendan slowly brought the soft gray clothing to about three centimeters away from his nose.

Despite having spent the night with him, it still fragrantly smelled of May. Immediately feeling immensely guilty and _incredibly _creepy, he abruptly dropped the cardigan as he felt a blush creep onto his face.

_Definitely creepy._

* * *

May didn't think she'd been gone long, yet Brendan's anxious reaction to her return seemed to have implied otherwise. She laughed as she handed his water bottle back to him, finding his puppy-like devotion amusing. He scowled when she pointed this out.

They quickly took off on their journey again, knowing that there wasn't much else left to do. As they continued to make their way to Rustboro, the sun kept rising from the east, eventually clearing the trees on their right to beat down on them with warm sunshine. All the while, May and Brendan had been keeping a steady pace while bickering, discussing, teasing…

"What about that Trevor kid during orientation? He really seemed to have it in for you."

May made a face.

"He kept trying to leave notes in my locker everyday once school started. At first it was flattering, but it got old," she reflected. "After I _gently_ turned him down, I think he moved on to Marina."

Brendan snorted, "Jimmy must've gotten a kick out of that."

"I'd guess he did get a kick in there somewhere, physical or otherwise," said May, grinning.

Brendan laughed out loud.

"Remember Arisa? She was really pretty and honestly had something for you."

"So do half the girls in the school, according to you," Brendan countered with a smirk. Then he shrugged. "I guess, but she never even tried to talk to me or anything."

"Hmm," May crooned thoughtfully.

They continued to discuss past potential lovers, which, to be perfectly honest, took quite a while. Neither seemed to particularly mind this type of discussion. It wasn't awkward, and somehow, it was a way to relate to home without feeling unbearably homesick.

Nothing had been conspicuously out of the ordinary until about an hour into their journey. They had been talking per usual when the two of them noticed a visible silhouette quickly running to them from the direction of their destination. If May had to compare, she'd say he very much resembled a Bug Catcher from the games.

They were _going to_ pass him casually, maybe shoot him a small smile as he rushed by. _Going _to. Until something totally unexpected happened, anyway.

He was nearing them, and upon closer inspection, both May and Brendan mentally noted how short he was – obviously no more than a prepubescent 11-year-old. The Bug Catcher noticed them, fixating his stare on the two as he neared.

Before either of them could really do anything, he thrust a Pokeball into May's surprised hands as he rushed by, panting, "Take it. Take it," and ran off.

May and Brendan were both thoroughly confused at what had just happened.

"Did he just give you a Pokemon?"

"Um…" May was at a loss for words as she stared at the shrinking silhouette of the Bug Catcher as he ran farther and farther away in the direction they had been coming from. "I feel like _forced_ is a better term…?"

If this had been an anime, manga, or fanfiction where the story was set in a non-alternate universe where such things were possible, Brendan had a feeling he would've sweatdropped.

But this wasn't, so… he didn't.

He _did_ continue watching the Bug Catcher as he disappeared in the distance. Then he turned back to blink at the new Pokeball in May's hand.

"…Two Pokemon and you've yet to meet even one of them," teased Brendan, deciding to break the silence the spontaneous action had just brought.

"Another Pokemon is just what I needed," said May, wincing.

"Maybe it's a sign from Arceus that it's time for you to meet them."

May stared at him.

"Really? Arceus?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, he said, "Hey, I'm sure someone in this dimension devotes their entire existence to him… it… her?"

"What if it's a random trap and I'll get pied in the face if I use it?" she suspiciously mused as she looked over the PokeBall in her hands.

"Eat it," replied Brendan simply.

The brunette rolled her eyes. Then she took a breath.

"… Here goes nothing," she muttered.

She gracefully tossed the PokeBall into the air, squeezing her eyes shut as she prepared for a pie, an explosion…

She had to admit she was half-surprised that neither of those possibilities (nor any other equally humiliating/violent situations) happened. Instead, there was a bright casting of white light, followed by a mangled red radiance which materialized into a very unique and recognizable Pokemon.

Its body was adorable and rounded – very much resembling that of a cute stuffed animal, though which animal it would be is debatable. It had thin black antennae protruding from its head, and an equally thin and black proboscis protruding where a mouth typically exists. Its graceful dark gray swallowtail wings were symmetrically patterned with designs of yellow, red, and one small area of blue.

To put it simply, a Beautifly.

May was stunned.

"What's with people giving me incredible Pokemon out of the blue?" she asked, half in astonishment and half in near exasperation.

Brendan didn't respond as he simply watched the Butterfly Pokemon hover in the air. It looked at May quizzically, probably wondering where its previous trainer had gone. It sang a chirp that sounded very much like a question if had been in English. May exchanged glances with Brendan, unsure of exactly how to respond to its assumed question.

"Um, well, see… Your previous trainer left you with me, and… I think… you're mine now?"

May would confidently say she felt very awkward at this particular moment in her life.

The Beautifly studied May for a moment. It eventually decided that she was acceptable. The Pokemon chirped once more before landing on top of May's head, symbolizing that it was indeed fine with the spontaneous arrangement.

"… Well, that wasn't so bad," murmured May.

"It kind of makes me want to meet Mudkip," mused Brendan.

"It kind of makes me want to meet Eevee," mirrored May.

All it took was one look from the two to wordlessly decide what they were going to do next. May took her other Pokeball from her bag, and Brendan unhooked his from the lanyard on his belt.

"On three," he said.

"One."

"Two."

"…_Three._"

There was a flash of white light twice as bright as before as two Pokeballs were simultaneously thrown into the air with the intention of being released. Two red beams of light flashed from the said white luster, and those red beams materialized into two also very distinguishable Pokemon – a Mudkip and Eevee, both of which exactly resembled the images Brendan and May had in mind. Mudkip eagerly hopped into Brendan's arms, as if it instinctively knew he was its new trainer.

"Well aren't you just a bucketful of sunshine," he chuckled, holding the Pokemon affectionately as it grinned.

May's Eevee was a bit more apprehensive about its trainer. It circled her several times, sniffing and watching. May felt a nervous sweat begin to break out, although a small wave of relief quickly washed through her as the Pokemon apparently deemed her worthy, gracefully leaping into her waiting arms. May and Brendan looked at each other, holding their newly met Pokemon in their arms. A smile broke out on each of their faces. The brunette giggled.

"What were we so afraid of?"

"Who knows?" replied Brendan as his Mudkip affectionately licked his cheek. "Hey hey, that tickles!"

"Well aren't you guys quite the cuties," hummed May, referring to no Pokemon in particular.

The Eevee in her arms purred.

* * *

Brendan and May continued their journey to Rustboro. May had returned Beautifly back to its Pokeball simply because she didn't want her to tire from having to fly the entire way. However, she kept Eevee out as she thoroughly enjoyed the furry Pokemon's company. Mudkip comfortably rested on Brendan's shoulder in the curve of his neck.

The two teenagers continued to pass the time and route with conversation, both enjoying the fact that they had human company on this journey – especially since the loneliness of the day before still haunted both of them.

Eventually, they came upon a spot where the path seemed to fall away a little ways in front of them. As they neared, they realized that it was really because the route had begun to gently slope downwards into-

"Rustboro!" exclaimed May excitedly.

Albeit still a decent mile or two away, the skyline of Rustboro City was clearly visible. The city was dotted with clumps of trees every now and then, but in general, it was a large city with towering buildings and skyscrapers. Towards their left clearly laid the wide, open sea. Towards their northeast, mountains loomed.

"Maybe the others are here," mused Brendan, grinning.

"I'm getting a good feeling about this place," said May with a nod.

"Let's go," urged Brendan, his eyes brightening.

May smiled, and then took off running down the slope. Brendan followed her at full speed as his Mudkip held on for dear life.

* * *

Rustboro City was quite unlike Petalburg City or Oldale Town. First off, it was huge. Buildings towered above humans and Pokemon everywhere – nearly all of the architecture was at least two stories tall. Corporate buildings loomed in plain sight, and there seemed to be multiple Pokemon centers spaced throughout the city. To the near west was a gorgeous white-sand beach that opened up into the ocean.

"You know what this place feels like?" asked May.

"What?"

"Home."

Brendan stared at her, confused.

"It's not much like home, in my opinion."

"Oh, y'know! The buildings, technology… even the water. It's a lot more similar than Petalburg, at least."

"I suppose..."

"…What's wrong?"

Brendan shrugged, rubbed his eyes, and said, "Sorry, I guess I'm just really tired. We should find a place to crash."

"It's only noon," remarked May, pointing to a large digital clock displayed on one of the buildings.

"Still, though. We're definitely not leaving before tonight, right? Might as well reserve _something_."

His argument made sense.

"Alright," agreed May. "Let's find a Pokemon center…since everything else seems to suspiciously be perfectly in accordance to the show anyways."

For the sake of convenience, May returned her Eevee to its Pokeball. Brendan wordlessly mirrored her, and they set off in search of a certain red-roofed building.

* * *

"What do you mean _each traveling party under three _can only book_ one room_?" asked Brendan, practically fuming.

The woman at the counter looked at him apologetically. She reminded May very much of Nurse Joy from the games and show.

"I'm sorry, but all the Pokemon centers in the city are all nearly completely reserved," she said politely. "There's a large event in town."

"Just our luck," muttered Brendan.

"It's alright, Brendan," consoled May. Then, turning to who was apparently Nurse Joy, she said, "We'll take it – but two separate beds, please."

Nurse Joy smiled gently at the girl, who seemed significantly more level-headed than her traveling partner.

"That'll be arranged. Please come back at 4 this afternoon for your keys and room. I'll give you a number right now to hand to the front desk later so you can get the keys," she said, quickly printing out a slip of paper with the number "49323-91" written on it and handing it to the brunette. May nodded as she took the slip of paper, and then dragged a still bitter Brendan away.

"Thank you!"

As they stepped outside the Pokemon center, May turned to Brendan with a semi-cross look on her face.

"What's with you?" she demanded.

"It's probably not a good idea for the two of us to share a room. Our parents would flip if they knew," said Brendan, scowling.

"Oh, stop. We're going to have to count on this happening a lot more frequently if this keeps going on, you know," snapped May.

Brendan eyed May with an unreadable expression on his face. Despite being the one who was winning the argument, May still felt slightly intimidated by the angry, fiery glint in his eyes. It was as if he was trying to tell her something along the lines of "are you _kidding_ me?" but without words.

He finally snorted a snort of disdain before turning away.

"Sure," he muttered.

May matched his scowl. This had been the first time they'd ever disagreed like this, and deep down, she didn't like it. The two stood in angry silence outside the doors of the Pokemon center. People passed by, and a few gave the two interested looks.

Finally, May gave in, sighing.

"Let's go eat," she murmured wearily, holding out her hand to him. "I'm hungry."

When he continued being stubborn and cautiously eyed the gesture, May groaned in aggravation.

"Forget it," she muttered, forcefully taking his right wrist as she led him away from the center and into the heart of the city.

* * *

The duo sat on a grassy gentle slope facing the city on the outskirts of Rustboro. They passed the time in awkward silence, neither particularly wanting to admit any wrongs. The two nibbled on their sandwiches, neither with much appetite. Their trio of Pokemon clustered together, swallowing their own food with great enthusiasm while watching their trainers questioningly.

Finally, May couldn't take it anymore. She sighed.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, yet loud enough for him to hear.

Brendan turned his head to face her soft sapphire eyes and muttered, "Yeah, me too…"

"I understand where you're coming from, really. It's not supposed to be like this… ideally."

Brendan gave a wry smile before simply replying, "It's really not."

"It's just… ack," she struggled, trying to find the right words. "Nothing's going to happen, Brendan! I trust you."

Brendan cringed. She really was too trusting. Or kind. Or naïve. They all seemed plausible.

"I'm not sure I'd trust _myself_…" he muttered, barely audible.

"Hm? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"Nothing," he lied. Then he gently smiled. "Friends?" he asked, sticking out his hand.

May mirrored his grin.

"Of course," she said, returning his handshake.

A second silence took over when the two let go, though the air was much more relaxed this time around. Nonetheless, there was still a morsel of tension in there somewhere.

After a few minutes passed, May had simply blanked out, her eyes and expression like lifeless stone as she gazed in the direction of the city. Brendan, on the other hand, was thinking hard as he fought an inner battle. A light breeze toyed with their hair and the folds of their clothes. The Pokemon had gradually inched back to their trainers during the apologies, and the Evolution Pokemon was curled up in May's lap, snoozing as the girl absentmindedly stroked its back. Her Beautifly lightly rested on top of her bandanna, admiring the cloth's bright red color. Brendan's Mudkip was also in his arms, awake and attempting to cuddle into his shirt.

More time passed until May's distant eyes suddenly flickered back to reality. She noticed a group of three a little ways away who seemed to be about her and Brendan's age.

One was a very pretty girl with perfect cascading coral-colored hair, and she donned a short orange trench coat, red miniskirt, and tall crimson boots. Next to her was a guy with wavy, frizzy, _violet_ hair who was oddly dressed in a conspicuous Cacturne-like costume. The last was a boy with a hair color that reminded May of spring and freshly mowed grass. He wore a simple purple jacket, a long sleeve black undershirt, and a pair of teal cargos.

May had to admit all of their hair colors were certainly… _interesting_. She'd also reluctantly admit the green-haired boy was pretty attractive if someone pressed her hard enough.

Simply the sight of the group wasn't overly spectacular, but what caught May's attention was when she noticed the girl point in the direction of her and Brendan and say something to the other two. The Cacturne man seemed to have squealed and clasped his hands together. The green-haired boy seemed uninterested, giving only a shrug and a passive expression. The girl, apparently satisfied from their reactions, began heading towards her and Brendan, the other two in tow.

May and Brendan briefly exchanged panicked and confused looks, unsure of what quite to say or expect. The pair couldn't think of what else to do other than stare at the advancing trio. Their Pokemon were also interested in the incomers, watching their every move.

The group continued to near until they were within conversational range of them, with the girl leading the small pack.

"Hi," she greeted, smiling warmly. "My name's Solidad, and this," she gestured to the purple-haired Cacturne-dressed man, "is Harley." She then gestured to the harlequn-haired boy and said, "This is Drew."

"Hi," echoed May, a polite smile etched onto her face as well. "I'm May, and this is my friend, Brendan."

"Ooh, young love! I remember it as if it were yesterday," crooned Harley half-teasingly, half-completely serious.

The two turned a light shade of pink.

"We're… not _together_…"

"Oh," deadpanned Harley as his face fell.

Solidad looked ready to drag Harley off the hill they'd just climbed and toss him into the ocean. She cleared her throat.

"Anyways, the three of us are all coordinators, and we're signed up for the big contest here tomorrow." She paused, as if contemplating her next words, and continued, "The lady wanted us to spread the word. It's going to be one of the biggest contests in the region this year, and lots of trainers and coordinators will be there. Would you be interested?"

May and Brendan exchanged glances.

"Is a contest something like... an appeals round followed by a battle tournament?" asked May.

The Drew character arched a disbelieving eyebrow, and then smirked.

"Of course. Anybody with _finesse_ and _Pokemon_ should know about them. You obviously have Pokemon, so it must be the finesse you're lacking," he drawled.

May nearly gaped. What a _rude_ _person! _The complete opposite of everyone else she'd met in this world – and that included the questionable Bug Catcher! She decided to ignore him, though a biting retort was dancing on the very tip of her tongue.

"Drew," she heard Solidad whisper in an aggravated, hushed tone.

The said boy sulked away, taking a few steps back and staring darkly in the direction in which he, Harley, and Solidad had come from.

"Sorry," Solidad muttered to May. "He's not always like this. Anyways…" Solidad cleared her throat, then shot May and Brendan a smile. "Will you do it?"

Out of the corner of her eye, May saw Brendan shrug.

"Er, I don't know if I'm up for stuff like that. I'm still kind of new to this scene," he said sheepishly. He turned to May. "If you want to do it, I'll support you."

May knew the choice was entirely hers, yet she still felt some sort of intense peer pressure on her. She took a deep breath, and then did what Brendan had done on the last day of freshman orientation when he had been cornered in a very similar situation.

And on a whim, she also said the very same three words _he_ had on that day.

"I'll do it."

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Wow! People who seem important to the rest of the story aside from May and Brendan?! Hmm ;)

Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!


	5. The Moon

To be perfectly honest, at the time of her acceptance, May had no idea whatsoever how to pull off this contest. Heck, she'd only received her first Pokemon the day before, let alone train and coordinate moves and appeals. The only reason she knew of Pokemon contests was because of her games - simulations that she hoped were similar enough to this real world. When she had confessed these concerns (though excluding the whole "I'm-not-actually-from-this-universe" explanation) to the kind, thoughtful Solidad, the older girl had volunteered herself and her companions to help May out with a Coordinating 101 lesson later.

In the meantime, however, May and Brendan were currently helping the former brainstorm potential appeals and attack combinations.

The two were currently sitting in an open meadow on the outskirts of Rustboro, less than a quarter of a mile from the entrance of the city. Brendan was casually sitting on a smoothly-sliced tree stump. May was on the ground, leaning against the same dead trunk. Their backpacks had been set to the side, and their Pokemon were safely resting in their Pokeballs.

Despite their lack of "real-world" knowledge in this universe, they had watched enough episodes and read enough volumes of the series in their own world to have a feel and ideas for this type of stuff.

Halfway through reciting each of their Pokemon's advantages, disadvantages, and moves, Brendan almost frowned as he realized something worthy of speculation. In his opinion, anyway.

"May?"

"Hm?" the girl replied, concentrating on the words written in her notebook.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," she giggled.

Brendan rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape anyways. "Seriously."

May turned her face to him, directing her attention away from the notebook and saying, "Sure, go ahead."

"Why'd you accept doing the contest?"

"...What do you mean?"

Brendan studied her quizzically before carefully replying, "I mean, like, sure, no doubt it'll be fun and stuff. But I thought our priority was to find Ash and the others."

May's face sobered. She turned away from him and stared blankly into the distance for a few seconds, organizing her thoughts. When she finally spoke again, it was only a whisper.

"I know." She paused. "I just… I don't know. When they came up to us, and you suddenly turned the attention on me, it just felt like I had a lot of… _pressure_ to do it. I don't…"

Brendan was silent, waiting for her to go on.

"It was kind of dumb, wasn't it? Up until ten minutes ago, I didn't even know all of my Pokemon's moves," she snorted. "How am I supposed to get through a contest?"

"No," said Brendan. "It was very… _ballsy_ of you."

Chuckling, she said, "Thanks. But you know, in retrospect… I think I made a decent decision. I think that we only have a certain amount of time here, before something happens or we go home…or something." The brunette turned to him, smiling wistfully. "This is all still so _surreal_, but I've wished Pokemon were real since I was a little kid, Brendan. Who knows if this isn't a strange once-in-a-millennium chance? I want to… savor it."

"Yeah. Guess I know what you mean… Y'know, I'm starting to regret not signing up for the contest," he said as he met her eyes.

"There's still time," pointed out May.

"What Pokemon am I going to use if you're using all the Pokemon we have between us?"

"…Oh."

Brendan chuckled. "Never mind, it's fine. Let's get back to your fancy contest combos and moves and stuff."

"Right," huffed May, turning her attention back to her notebook.

* * *

After the brainstorming session, the duo had proceeded to attempt to try out some of the combinations. True to Brendan's word, their Pokemon had succeeded in executing all but one of the suggested combinations. Eevee eventually learned its appeal for tomorrow's contest, although the routine still had a few kinks.

They left the meadow and headed back to the Pokemon center, as it was already fifteen to 4 by then. Earlier, Solidad had told them to meet her/them at the "Pokemon center with the little Gyarados statues on the front". It turned out that the one she was talking about was the same one May and Brendan had reserved a room at earlier, making the whole process much simpler than it potentially could've been.

The two had received their room key without hassle, and spent a relaxing twenty minutes to refresh themselves – which might've been one way to put it. May napped for fifteen minutes and spent the remaining five to polish her hair and clothes. Brendan simply slept through the whole twenty. He was reluctantly dragged out of the comfortable bed by May who was insisting something on how it was rude to keep people waiting or something.

It was nearly half past 4 now, and Brendan and May were patiently waiting for Solidad, Harley, and Drew. They'd made their way to the downstairs lobby a few minutes ago, and were now sitting in the available comfy chairs.

_Well, not necessarily Harley and Drew_, thought May. There had been no particular promise of those two showing up, though at the same time, it was questionable if they would separate from Solidad.

May grimaced as she thought of them – but particularly the latter. Harley was… odd, yes, but at least he wasn't _rude _and _insensitive,_ which was precisely the first impression May had received from Drew. In their encounter, he'd only spoken once, but she was pretty convinced he seemed like one of those cocky everybody-loves-me-so-I-can-be-a-jerk-whenever-I-wish types, just because he was a _little_ handsome. If he wasn't, well, he still certainly _seemed_ to come off as such, which might've been just as bad.

To put it simply, May didn't like him much.

"Hey, question," said Brendan suddenly, jerking May from her thoughts.

"Hm?"

"Those guys – Solidad, Drew, Harley… aren't they your rivals, in a way?"

"I guess so…"

"Are you _supposed _to train with them and let them know about your combinations and attacks?"

May blinked. She hadn't thought of that.

"Well, no… not exactly…I think…?"

The corner of Brendan's lips twitched up into a smirk.

"Oh," realized May. "Element of surprise is gone."

"Yeah," laughed Brendan. "Maybe you only ask them for help on stuff you're having trouble with?"

"That's true… I kind of trust them, though. Well, maybe not all of them," she said, scowling.

"Did the guy tick you off a little too?"

May pouted, and whined, "He insulted me to my face."

"You _do_ trip a lot," mused Brendan. "Maybe the finesse thing is half true."

She gaped at him. "Not you too!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! You're very graceful, May."

"_Thank_ you."

"Like a gazelle."

"_Thank_ you."

"Like a Suicune."

"_Thank…_you?"

"Like the most graceful animals and Pokemon ever all combined into one."

Okay, now _that _was sarcasm. "Brendan, I'm going to get you!" she shouted, leaping from her seat and pouncing to mock-wrestle him.

"Hey hey, chill!" laughed Brendan under the onslaught of playful punches and kicks.

When she didn't chill, Brendan did the one thing he _knew_ would stop her in her tracks.

Tickling.

He brought his hands to a modest and not _that_ suggestive place on her body – the curves of her waist. He began lightly dancing his fingers along her side. The barrage of attacks immediately ceased as May crumpled into a heap supported partly on his lap and partly by her leg on the floor, giggling uncontrollably.

"Bren…Brendan! St- stop…!" she breathed, unable to catch her breath as she spent it all laughing.

The two were making a bit of a scene in the middle of the Pokemon center lobby – passersby watched in amusement at what they assumed to be a young, carefree, happy couple. And really, who could blame them?

Sometime after half a minute later, there was the sound of authoritative throat clearing near them. Brendan stopped, and May sagged into a weary heap of mush on the ground. She looked up at the source of the sound that had just about saved her life.

"Oh. Drew. Hi!" she said happily.

She still didn't like him much, but hey, maybe he was one of those types who got better if she got to know him. Plus, May wasn't the type to hold grudges.

"…Hey? If you guys are _busy_, then I could come back later…" he said, the trace of a sneer in his tone.

"No, that's fine. We're okay," insisted May. She searched for the other two teenagers that should've accompanied him, and when she didn't find them, she asked, "Where's Solidad and Harley?"

Shrugging, Drew replied, "Not here. Stuff came up at the last minute and Solidad made me come here to _tutor_ you."

May scowled. She didn't like the way he said that.

"So are you?" she asked haughtily.

He smirked, evidently amused.

"Luckily for you, I don't break promises." As he turned and began to walk away, he said, "Let's go to the training grounds."

May and Brendan blinked at his back in confusion. In unison, they murmured, "Training grounds?"

"Pokemon centers always have training grounds near," he said, although he didn't bother to interrupt his pace. "Keep up."

May and Brendan exchanged wary looks before hurriedly following the jerk of a head of spinach.

* * *

True to his word, there were indeed training grounds behind the Pokemon center, a place where May and Brendan hadn't thought to look at. The area around the courts was mostly barren of trees or grass – there were only dirt grounds and fading white lines marking boundaries. The outskirts, on the other hand, quickly began evolved into lush greenery and neighboring buildings. There was an impressive number of other trainers who were utilizing the grounds to coordinate attacks and fight practice battles.

"Figures," May heard Drew mutter. "Contest crammers."

She arched an eyebrow at him.

"What?" he said, noticing her accusing gaze.

"Like you don't procrastinate," snorted Brendan.

Drew smirked at him, flicking a front lock of his chartreuse hair as he did so.

"I practice whenever I can, but I don't need to cram to win."

"How do you know they're cramming?" retorted May.

Snorting, he said disdainfully, "Look."

The other two looked.

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, they noticed that many of the trainers and/or coordinators were sweating and frustrated, over half of the trainers/coordinators were very near to screaming at their Pokemon for the lack of perfection on a move, and a few actually were. One was loudly shouting obscenities.

"That's not how Pokemon should be treated…" murmured May, wincing.

"They're usually not. Just so happens that this is a big contest – there's lots of people who want to strut stuff and show off," said Drew passively. "In general, coordinators take better care of their Pokemon than trainers."

May and Brendan couldn't help but view that statement as a tiny bit egocentric, even if, they reasoned, it made sense. After all, the appearance of a coordinator's Pokemon was a considered aspect in appeal rounds. Still, any words that came out of this guy's mouth seemed arrogant, and with good reason.

"So. Coordinating 101," said Drew, the faintest trace of mocking in his voice. "What do you want to know?"

"Contests," said May immediately. "Tell me about them. In detail."

Drew sighed. This was going to take a while.

"They're about demonstrating the beauty and talent of your Pokemon." Was he seriously telling these guys, who seemed to be close to clueless about anything related to contests and coordinating about, well, contests? Anyways... "There's an appeals and battle round. In appeals, you do a routine and get judged out of 300 points, 100 for each judge. Highest scores go on. How many depends on the contest.

"In the battle rounds, you fight an opponent to either knock them out or decrease their points. Always five minutes on the clock. Losing points means you got hit, your opponent had an impressive combination, or your attack fails.

"You usually need a contest pass to join, but this time's special. It's more like an event to introduce new coordinators to coordinating, so you can get a pass then. It's already near the end of the season, though, so it's more like a preview for next season.

"Ribbons are like badges for contests. Usually, you can do the regional Grand Festival if you get five ribbons, but this year's special."

At this, May noticed Drew's eyes had lit up slightly.

"There's an interregional Grandiose Festival this year in Sinnoh, it happens every four years. Doesn't matter what regions you get your ribbons in, as long as you get five and they're all the current season. The Grandiose Festival is the most elite contest there is, above the normal Grand Festivals. The winner is crowned Top Golden Coordinator, and they go down in the Hall of Fame. The best of the best around the continent gather here."

The other two stared at him, disbelieving the amount of non-rude words the boy had just spoken in a row. It was a record. Or a miracle. Or both. Drew felt their stares, and couldn't help but feel slightly offended.

"What?"

"You're kind of adorable when you talk about coordinating," giggled May. "You get soft and not as rude."

The boy immediately flushed a light pink and scowled.

"Let's just get to your Coordinating 101 thing…"

* * *

Brendan couldn't help but remember the way May had laughed when she was lightly teasing the Drew guy and he had blushed a bit… or whatever. It was a delighted yet some sort of _intrigued_ giggle. The type of giggle that Brendan had never, ever heard in all the time he'd spent with May.

Deep inside him, he felt the small head of a jealousy prick its ears and stir its head.

After the guy's explanation of what contests were, Drew had then proceeded to help May with the one combination Brendan and May had difficulty with perfecting.

The one move was their most elaborate idea, though in truth, the two hadn't planned to use it in this contest. It involved Eevee and Beautifly, who wouldn't be partnering up with each other this time, but May and Brendan thought it was an idea worth a shot. Particularly if there was going to be a next time for contests.

The idea was that Beautifly would first set up a Morning Sun. The ball of warm light would materialize and hover in the air, doing its thing as it naturally healed the Pokemon that had summoned it. Eevee would be on Beautifly's back, hovering underneath the Morning Sun. Eevee would then quickly leap to the light using some sort of combination of both Take Down and Quick Attack and conjure a Shadow Ball to eclipse the Morning Sun. Then, Eevee would quickly conjure a Last Resort right in the heart of the whole thing. If it all went right, the Morning Sun and Shadow Ball would explode. The effect would be streams of darkness and light filling the entire stage with golden stars running away from the source. Night and day.

When they had explained this to Drew, he looked rather impressed. He almost gave a compliment, too.

"Not bad at all… for amateurs."

With Eevee and Beautifly both being May's Pokemon, Brendan couldn't do much except awkwardly watch as she and Drew worked on the routine. The main kinks with the appeal was the entire concept of the Shadow Ball eclipse, as well as figuring out a way for Eevee to get near enough to use Last Resort without getting hurt by the resulting explosion. Brendan had no idea how to fix these issues, though Drew seemed pretty convinced it was possible.

So Brendan had simply settled for simply observing May and Drew work with the Pokemon. He sat on a wooden bench about a hundred yards away. His headphones were jammed into his ears, and his music was turned up louder than it usually was. Apparently Pokemon training was awfully noisy.

As the final notes of a song ended, another immediately began. This one had a bit of a pop punk beat, and Brendan instantly recognized it as one of May's favorite songs, and it was she who had gotten the track onto his mp3 player. He wasn't a huge fan of the band, but the song was alright.

The first verse started. _"All this time, trying to make you mine..."_

"_Steals my lines, makes it hard to rhyme..."_

"_The days go by like the summertime…"_

He mentally flinched. These lyrics were…way too relatable when he thought of a certain brunette. Which shouldn't have been the case. He immediately skipped to the next song, relieved that it was one about the partying aspect of life instead.

Brendan felt himself slightly flush as he realized what just happened.

* * *

May stepped out of the shower and wrapped a coarse towel around her body. The texture reminded her of the towels she had used in the past at hotels. She always assumed it had been the bleach or some type of chemical they used to wash them. The bathroom in their Pokemon center room was stocked with small bottles of surprisingly fragrant soap, and May was particularly delighted to utilize their coconut-orange shampoo-and-conditioner set.

She dried herself off, and began putting on her undergarments. They were followed by a pair of free thin, gray sweats she'd found neatly folded in the bathroom, as well as her regular camisole. She couldn't remember the last time she'd worn the same camisole two days in a row without washing - going on three.

All the while, May reflected on the day's events. Namely, Drew. No, she wasn't in love with him. No, she didn't develop a crush on him in the course of a single day. No, the reason why she was pondering him was not suggestive.

However, yes. Yes, he'd turned out to be not such a bad guy. Yes, Eevee had made great progress under Drew's advice and tutelage, though the appeal wasn't quite there yet. Yes, he was somewhat physically attractive. But despite being a decent-ish guy, he was still rude and cutting whenever he could be, to both her and Brendan. There were never shots at hers or Brendan's Pokemon, though.

So yes, thought May as she expertly tied her bandanna around her head, she could handle his attitude. And seemingly, so could Brendan, to an extent. Approving of her image, she unlocked, opened, and stepped out the bathroom door.

"Brendan," she called. "I'm going to go refill my water. Want me to refill yours too?"

"Yeah," he replied from one of the beds as he lazily flicked through the channels on the TV. "It's in my bag."

May grabbed both her and Brendan's water bottles.

"Be right back," she said as she left their room.

* * *

The brunette felt herself get increasingly frustrated. Did this place really have no water fountain? She went up to the front desk.

"Hi, excuse me, is there a water fountain anywhere…?"

"Oh, yes. The closest one is right outside the door of the center, right by the bike racks," said the nurse as she pointed to the glass doors that led to the outside world.

Following her finger, May noticed the said bike rack. She also noticed that it wasn't raining, hailing, snowing, or any other sort of more extreme weather outside. Not that she expected it to – it had been perfect that afternoon.

"Thanks."

She smiled at Nurse Joy, then made her way out into the night on a light jog.

The evening air was cool on her skin, but it wasn't cold. A light breeze picked up every now and then, which felt good on her semi-dried hair. A few well-distanced streetlights illuminated the entrance around the Pokemon center and its front courtyard. In comparison, the rest of the city was much more richly lit.

May smiled. It was nice. She immediately spotted the water fountain and went over to it. In the process, she noticed that there was a bench next to it. On the bench was Drew.

"Hey," she greeted, chancing a smile as she walked over to the fountain, and thus, near him.

"Hey," he replied as he watched her unscrew her bottle and begin to fill it with water.

"Thanks for earlier. We almost got the routine down."

"Yeah, yeah. No problem," he nonchalantly dismissed.

May was silent as the water line in her bottle reached the top. She then began filling Brendan's. The two passed a short while in awkward silence.

"So," began May as she screwed the cap back onto Brendan's bottle. On her own invitation, she then sat down next to Drew on the bench, and said, "Nervous for tomorrow?"

Drew looked at her quizzically. Then he smirked.

"Why would you _at all _think _that_?"

"Well _excuse me_ for thinking you're human, Mr. I'm-So-Great!" retorted May, pouting.

Drew chuckled. A light chuckle, but it was the closest thing May had heard from him all day to a laugh. Part of her was a little proud to have been able to elicit it from him.

"I know, I know. Lots of people can't believe my unquestioned superiority either."

"Unquestioned superiority," echoed May. "That's _exactly _what I was going for."

"I know. It's undeniable," said Drew as he smirked again.

Shaking her head and frowning, May muttered, "You're amazing."

"I know."

"In the worst way possible."

"What a compliment, April."

"…April?"

"June?"

"You are _not_ going there-"

"November?"

"Nobody's even named after November! I've never even met anybody with the name November!"

"Hey, calm down, January."

May fumed. Drew laughed.

"You're amusing, December."

Scowling, the brunette pointedly said, "So you avoided the question."

"What question?"

"If you were nervous for tomorrow!"

"Why would I be?"

May sighed. This attempt at conversation would just go around in circles. Again.

"Never mind."

The two of them relapsed into another period of silence. May was thinking about more things she could potentially use to make conversation with. Why did he start coordinating? How long had he been coordinating? How'd he know Solidad and Harley? Where were they today? What should she do tomorrow morning to ready for the contest?

Yet, she ended up saying none of these things in that particular moment, because he'd beaten her to the punch and said, "The moon's nice, huh?" in a fond, distant, daydreaming tone May didn't know he could exactly produce.

"Uh…yeah. It's really pretty…"

Her eyes flickered to him, wondering why he'd bring that, of all things, up at this particular moment in time. Of course, it was certainly a magnificent sight. The moon was a thin crescent and still very similar to the night before when she had watched it with Brendan. There were thin strips of white clouds every now and then, but the stars were hidden by the amount of light pollution Rustboro City emitted.

Drew felt her glance. He flickered his eyes as well, catching her stare.

"What?"

"Nothing… It's just… why would you bring that up?"

"I can't?" he inquired as he raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"No, no! Everyone's free to point out how pretty the moon and stars are," insisted May. "It's just… you don't exactly seem like the type of person to do so out of the blue."

Drew shrugged, turning his gaze back to the bright moon.

"A really…special, person once told me, 'Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll still land amongst the stars.' "

May really wanted to press him who "a really special person" was, but decided against it. After all, it seemed like a serious, meaningful moment was going on here, even if she didn't totally understand where he was randomly getting this from.

"…Are you encouraging me about the contest tomorrow?"

Drew shrugged.

"Am I?"

"Are you?"

"Am I?"

"Are you?"

Smirking and rising to his feet, he casually said, "Who knows? Well, I'm heading in now," and turned away to begin walking in the direction of the Pokemon center.

"Night, Drew."

"Bye, August."

"DREW!"

She could hear his quiet chuckle as he continued to walk away until he was inside the center. He gave her a two-fingered salute, which May translated as a good-bye wave. The brunette smiled after him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

When May looked up at the moon one last time that night, she noticed the shimmering wink of a star near the moon that she hadn't noticed earlier.

Before heading back into the Pokemon center, she spent another minute staring at the tiny dot of light wondering what, exactly, he meant by that particular quote.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Mmm minor Contestshipping?

Shoutout to the people who've reviewed/favorited/alerted this story so far. It really means a lot :)

Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated! xx


	6. The Motto

May was dreaming. She was back at school, in the pagoda. Ash, Brendan, June, Dawn, Jimmy, and Marina were all there as well, basking in the soft afternoon sun. Ash, Brendan, and Jimmy were arguing with each other as Marina watched them with amused eyes. Dawn and June were discussing the new region the Pokemon franchise had recently released. May found herself watching all of her friends silently, yet contentedly.

Then, suddenly, the sky turned dark. A wind began whipping and tearing at them. May was paralyzed, for she had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen next. Immobilized, they began disappearing from her line of vision, one by one. She couldn't move as she watched her friends leave her again. Again…

May woke up with a start to the alarm of her phone, a device she only realized she had last night after she returned to the room. Of course, she had no Internet or bars… but she had her apps, and that was better than nothing. She also realized she was thankful for her undying habit of taking her charger wherever she went.

Sitting up, the brunette found herself perspiring a cold sweat. A single stray tear oozed from her eye and down her cheek.

"May?" she heard a voice ask gently and groggily from the other side of the room. "You screamed."

"I…did?"

She hadn't realized she'd actually made any such sound.

"You said my name... And Dawn… and Ash…Were you…?"

May felt her eyes begin to slightly water again as she remembered her dream, as well as their current situation. She just felt so _helpless_ in this entire mess. As if she were simply a pawn being taken advantage of in a game. A big, mysterious, unknown game.

It was the type of pressure, situation, and heartbreak that a person could only completely understand if they were in it themselves.

She said nothing as she heard the rustle of Brendan's sheets and the creak of the bed as he shifted. She heard the steps as, barefooted, he crossed the room to her side. If she hadn't been so down already, she would've laughed at his awkwardness, because he clearly didn't know what to do next as he stood in silence next to her bed.

They stayed that way, in silence, for a few more seconds. Then, Brendan took what was to him a leap of faith. With a stoic, unreadable expression still on his face, he reached and engulfed her thin body in his arms.

"It'll be okay," he heard himself say. "They're okay."

His heart broke and shattered when he felt the girl begin to convulse with sobs in his arms.

* * *

With a blank face, May brushed out her hair with the cheap, complimentary comb she found in the bathroom. Her eyes were sullen, and still a bit red. The dream had brought the whole weight of this mess crashing down on her again.

_At least I have Brendan._

It was only the morning of day three, but Brendan had already been her support for the most of that time already, whether he knew it or not. His mere presence prevented her from losing it, not to mention his jokes and warm personality.

A more determined light began flickering in her eyes as she stared back at the figure in the mirror.

_Today's the contest! Pull it together, May!_

A small guilty smile pulled up the corner of her lips. She just realized that, should she make it through the appeal rounds, she'd be fighting her first-ever _real _battle in the biggest regular contest of the whole season in the first round.

She had a feeling it would be much more difficult than fighting a trainer on her DS. Of course, that would simply add to the fun of it.

Then again, she had to make it through the appeal rounds first. She didn't know how many people entered, nor how many people could get past the appeals, but she knew it'd take quite the execution to get by. No doubt about it. But she was born for the challenge.

She was also a brand-new coordinator to the scene who didn't totally know what she was doing, as opposed to the veterans of the sport. She didn't know how good Harley, Solidad, and Drew were on the scene, but if they were anywhere near as good as Drew was knowledgeable about Pokemon, then she'd confidently say any one of them could win the ribbon today.

Honestly, she would've been content to simply make it to the battle rounds.

Scratch that – if Eevee just simply pulled off the appeal, then she'd be so proud.

* * *

The day before, Drew had told May and Brendan to meet them in front of the contest hall. He'd given them brief, vague directions – "a bit north of the Pokemon center" – but it wasn't difficult to follow the flow of people who were all obviously going to the third-biggest coordinating event this season.

May and Brendan walked a steady pace to the hall, drinking in the sight of the city and their surroundings. The girl nervously fidgeted with her Eevee's PokeBall in her hand.

Brendan noticed this.

"Hey," he said with a smile, catching her attention. "It'll be fine."

With a small, timid grin, she laughed, "Thanks. It's a little… well, I'd describe it if I could find the right word."

"Well, you worked hard yesterday."

"Yesterday. As in one day. Do you know how much these people trained just for the contest?"

"No… but you don't, either."

May playfully elbowed him in the ribs.

"Funny," she snorted. "A lot! Maybe some since they were ten. I can't compete with that."

"Yeah, but we're just as good as them. We've been at this stuff for years too, y'know," he chuckled.

"It's not the same, and you know it," said May, rolling her eyes.

"Suit yourself, but don't be too surprised if you somehow win this thing," snickered Brendan. May opened her mouth to retort, but was abruptly interrupted by Brendan's exclaim of, "Hey, contest hall!"

The Rustboro City contest hall was, for the most part, a large light-blue dome. Slabs of glass jutted out here and there at angles for a quirky, contemporary look. Glass double doors served as the entrance, and above them were the words "Rustboro Contest Hall" in print. People were flooding in.

"This is so cool," murmured May, her eyes shining. Then her eyes flickered away from the structure, searching... "Where's Drew?"

"...Behind you," said a smooth voice with an origin that seemed incredibly close to her ear.

May jumped. She twirled so abruptly that she almost smacked the person behind her.

"Drew!" she gasped.

The green-haired boy watched her with amused eyes, his lips slightly curved into a lopsided smile. With his hands stuck in his pockets, he seemed to be completely at ease, as if nothing in the world could throw him off at this particular moment. May briefly wondered if such confidence was actually healthy.

She smiled upon noticing the other two familiar figures trailing him.

"Solidad… Harley!"

"Hello, May," said Solidad gently. "I'm sorry I let you down yesterday. I hope Drew, at least, helped you out enough," she chuckled sheepishly. "Here," the older girl said, handing the brunette what seemed to be a plastic ID card. "Your contest pass."

"Oh… Thank you so much," said May, taking the card in her hand. "I didn't realize I needed one," she admitted.

Neatly printed on it was her name, a bar code, and the word "Coordinator" in bold red lettering. A black arabesque border ran around the rim, and a faint Poke ball background decorated the middle.

"Hello, cupcake," sang Harley. "Don't forget about me!"

"Hi, Harley."

May smiled timidly, unsure of how to ever get used to this guy.

"Oh, we'll become fast friends, don't you worry, pumpkin," said Harley, clasping his hands together.

"Al… alright then," laughed May awkwardly. It was then that she noticed the lack of Brendan's voice, and realized that he had stiffened slightly beside her. "Come on," she whispered, nudging him as she did so. "Say hi."

"Hey," said her traveling partner, albeit a slight hesitantly.

"Good morning, Brendan," greeted Solidad softly, smiling kindly as she did so.

"Morning," he said, cautiously meeting her eyes.

"Er... Alright then… What do we do now?" asked May, wanting very much to break the awkward tension that had suddenly rose.

Drew flicked his chartreuse hair before answering, "We go in," as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

* * *

The inside of the contest hall was just as beautiful as the outside. The floor was a glossy marble, and the walls alternated between glass and snow-white plaster. The double door entrance opened into a lobby that featured a large, long desk manned by several official-looking people.

Upon Solidad and Harley's wordless encouragement, May made her way up to the counter with Brendan at her side.

"Contest ID, please," said the woman at the desk a tad curtly.

"Um, yes," stuttered May as she handed the woman the piece of plastic Solidad had given her earlier. "Here…"

The woman swiped the bar code of the card on a scanner. "Thank you... May. And what Pokemon will you be using today?"

"My Eevee, Beautifly, and um…" She cast a quick glance at Brendan - who caught it, and was looking back at her part encouragingly and part curiously. "…Mudkip," she said hesitantly, as she turned her attention back to the woman behind the counter.

"That's in order," said the woman as she handed May her ID card back, along with a slip of paper that simply read "78". She peered over her thin spectacles at the boy next to her. "And you, young man?"

"Oh yeah, er… I'm not participating in this contest."

"Well then, you ought to head through those left doors there, go up the stairs, through the doors, and you'll be in the spectator area," she said. "You won't miss it. May, you'll go through those doors to the right, down the hallway, and into the ready room."

Both of them nodded. With a nervous exhale, May turned to Brendan.

"Here goes nothing," she laughed weakly.

"Hey, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he encouraged softly, smiling warmly. In the noise of the rest of the lobby, his words were lost to all but the brunette in front of him. "Yolo's the motto," he added with a chuckle. "Have fun."

"Yeah. You only live once and all that," she agreed, amused by the pop culture reference he'd made out of nowhere. "I wish you were doing this with me," she confessed.

"Impossible. But I'll be in the stands," Brendan comforted. "Go get 'em," he said, raising his right hand, his palm facing her.

May smiled. Her chestnut hair bobbed as she returned his high-five. And with that, she spun around and headed for "those doors to the right". When she stole a glance over her shoulder, she saw Brendan's back heading for "those left doors there". Then her line of vision flickered to Drew, Solidad, and Harley, who had been in line behind her.

Her curious eyes met Solidad's, and her confidence was given yet another boost by the older coordinator's encouraging nod for her to go on.

* * *

In May's opinion, the contest ready room resembled the locker rooms at West Riverwater to quite an extent. Small lockers decorated the walls of the well-sized room, and there were benches along the length of the walls. There were two doors – one of which was the entrance from the hallway, and another which opened into the stage. Four televisions hung in each of the corners of the rectangular room, watching the currently lifeless stage.

It was actually all very exciting. From the sheer amount of bodies, May had to guess that there were at least two hundred people here – many of who seemed around her age. And only a handful would make it through to the second round.

After she had left the lobby, May didn't have much trouble finding the ready room as she followed the receptionist's directions. However, that was also the moment she lost track of Drew, Solidad, and Harley. Amidst all the hustle and bustle in the crowded room, she hadn't been able to find them, though she wasn't particularly worried.

Many of the other coordinators had their appeal Pokemon out, prepping them. Similarly, May had been holding her Eevee in her lap as she quietly sat on a bench in the corner of the room.

She had been stroking its soft fur and quietly talking to it when an important-looking man walked in with a headset. The room quieted as he patiently waited to speak.

"Trainers, coordinators, Pokemon. We will soon begin the fortieth annual Rustboro Contest. The number you received at the front desk determines your order for appealing."

May glanced at her slip of paper, although she already knew that she was number seventy-eight. Double-checking never hurt anyone, right?

"The contest will proceed as follows – all of you will appeal to the three honorable judges here today. They will award you a score out of 300 points. The top thirty-two performances will advance. Your opponent will be determined randomly. Should you fail to show up for your appeal or battle in a timely manner, you will immediately be disqualified."

Glancing at his wristwatch, the man continued, "The contest will now start. Number one, Brianna, please report to the stage."

The sea of coordinators parted for a petite redhead that squirmed her way through, apologizing and excusing herself numerous times. By the time she finally got to the door, she was a bit out of breath.

"Here!" she said.

Nodding, the man said, "You may head out onto the stage."

The girl, Brianna, nodded, bowed to him, and squeaked a shy, "Thank you!" Then she bounded off onto the stage, receiving quite the roar of applause from the audience, who were glad the show had finally started.

May watched the girl on the provided television sets in the ready room. She had a modest air, yet was obviously comfortable on the stage. She was polite and well-behaved, but undeniably confident.

She sent out a Surskit, a Pokemon with a round blue body with four skinny legs extending from it. Its face consisted of determined black eyes, pink markings, and what seemed to be a yellow antennae-hat of sorts. In short, it resembled a blue water strider.

"Go, Surskit! Use Ice Beam!" Brianna exclaimed confidently.

May watched in wonder as the Pokemon shot the attack at the floor, quickly turned the stage into a large ice rink, then utilized it to skate and twirl around like an Olympian.

After the Pokemon eventually finished, it took a dainty curtsy before being returned by Brianna. The girl then faced the judges expectantly.

"Fantastic. A clever, skillful way to exhibit your Pokemon's grace and ability," said Mr. Contesta, an excited, bright man who seemed to be in his sixties.

"Remarkable!" exclaimed Mr. Sukizo, a stout, middle-aged man.

"A wonderful exhibition of your Surskit's Agility and power to utilize such a powerful Ice Beam. It's clear both of you are very talented," said Nurse Joy. She was startlingly similar to the one who manned the counter at the Pokemon center May was staying at.

Words began flashing on the ticker circling the round contest hall. They consistently flashed "Brianna Wakana: 266".

Beaming, the girl cried, "Thank you so much!"

As she took her leave, the crowd applauded again.

_That was really good_, thought May. _And such a high score…_

May watched the next few appeals intently. They were all rather fast – a few minutes, at the most – but certainly fascinating. One girl and her Umbreon garnered a 232. The first boy of the contest and his Drifblim earned a 247. And so on and so forth, until May's neck eventually got tired from the sharp viewing angle. She relaxed it by gazing down at her Eevee again.

"Nervous?" she asked quietly.

The Pokemon puffed out its chest haughtily.

She giggled, "I guess that's a no. Do you remember the routine?"

The little animal nodded excitedly, its eyes shining with anticipation. Its body and fur twitched with excitement.

"It's down to you," May whispered, bringing her face down so that it was nearly level with the Pokemon in her lap. "You're the best starter Pokemon that could've happened to me."

The Evolution Pokemon grinned a small grin as it extended its neck to nuzzle its nose with May's. The girl was surprised, yet pleasantly so.

"You're such a sweetheart," she crooned fondly, wrapping her arms around the little Pokemon even tighter.

* * *

Before she knew it, it was the end of number seventy-seven's performance – a moderately attractive guy with a Bagon who had scored a 251.

"Let's go, Eevee," May whispered confidently as she returned the Pokemon back to its PokeBall.

"Number seventy-eight!"

"Here!" she yelled, gently pushing a few people out of her way to get to the entrance; butterflies thrashed in her stomach as she did so.

"Good luck," said the man.

May wordlessly thanked the man with a quick smile. Then she stepped out of the ready room and made her way into the focus of the blinding lights of the stage. Her heart pounded. She took a deep breath as the announcer, Vivian Meridian, excitedly introduced her.

"Now, number 78, May Maple – appealing with her Eevee!"

The crowd hushed as they waited for the girl to begin her performance.

_You only live once, May. Just do it._

"Go, Eevee! Take the stage!" exclaimed May as she executed a graceful pirouette and tossed Eevee's PokeBall up into the air.

The contraption burst with that familiar sound, white light, and the materialization of Eevee from the following red beams.

Eevee said nothing, but its entrance shouted everything as it somersaulted in the air and landed lightly on its paws. The Pokemon stood confidently, the attention of the stadium focused on it. Its brown fur shined and glistened in the bright lights of the stage.

May blinked. They hadn't prepared that… at all. Perhaps Eevee was simply a born performer/showoff. At least the crowd seemed to have liked it. Their cheers and whistles were proof of that.

"Shadow Ball!"

May watched as her Pokemon leaped up – for effect, of course – and quickly began conjuring a number of small Shadow Balls. They seemed to orbit around Eevee for a while, but this was temporary. Soon, they would uncontrollably fly away and begin wreaking havoc.

They knew this. So after Eevee's seventh and final Shadow Ball, which was considerably larger than the others, May screamed, "Quick Attack!"

Immediately, Eevee began running around the Shadow Balls at the speed of sound, circling around them until they were forced to begin to gather near each other again. However, none of them ever touched; they were like large electrons, repelled by each other.

Then the Evolution Pokemon leaped into the pool of Shadow Balls. It tossed up Shadow Balls one by one, until the tiny Pokemon was effortlessly juggling every single ball of dark energy.

May allowed this to go on for a few more seconds to simply let the image sink into the judges and audience's brains.

"Take Down, Eevee!"

And with that, the juggling ceased. The Pokemon let the smaller ones go for a short moment as it full-on tackled the large Shadow Ball. Instantly upon the severe impact, the ball of energy exploded.

Eevee seemed to have been thrown backwards by the force. The crowd and judges gasped and stared at the stage, taking in what had just happened. Did the girl really just prepare a performance that would harm her own Pokemon in the process? They couldn't tell for sure, as the said Pokemon was still obscured by the dust and dark energy.

Then a brilliant burst of bright light and stars rocketed from where Eevee was last seen. Beautiful rays lit up the stage, and the move incinerated the remaining Shadow Balls into smoke and nothingness.

When the move finally subsided, there stood Eevee grinning proudly and unscathed.

The crowd exploded into cheers and applause. Even the judges were clapping. Eevee bounded back into May's arms and licked its trainer as the brunette flushed.

"I can't believe it. You did amazing," crooned May softly as the Evolution Pokemon nuzzled May.

"I think we know what our response to your appeal was, May. Very impressive. I'm sure we were all astounded when we thought that your Eevee had been injured by that Shadow Ball – which was, somehow, clearly not the case," chuckled Mr. Contesta. "Fabulous."

"Remarkable!" laughed Mr. Sukizo.

May giggled – it seemed like that's all the man had said to every act and coordinator that had performed thus far.

"That was a beautiful performance, May. You have an extraordinary Pokemon. Eevee clearly has impeccable balance and grace, as well as an astounding amount of power… which could only have been utilized so well by a very talented trainer," said Nurse Joy.

May blushed.

A moment later, the ticker running around the walls of the stadium lit up. The audience demonstrated their approval loudly.

May Maple had earned a score of 273.

* * *

After May went back into the ready room, she was congratulated by a sizable amount of applause and compliments. The Eevee in her arms purred from the number of hands that wanted to stroke its soft head. She also quickly found Solidad, who was lined up near the door to both congratulate May and wait for her own approaching performance.

May was incredibly happy; 273 had been one of the highest scores awarded thus far. She cheered and clapped for Solidad, who had proceeded to topple all those who had already performed with a near perfect score – a 296. Drew later went on with an Absol for a 285, and Harley earned a 271 with his Wigglytuff.

Aside from Solidad and Drew, however, May also counted at least a dozen people who had beat her (albeit marginally). There were also the dozens of people she hadn't been paying attention to before. They were all good, she told herself, and there's no way she would feel bad if she didn't happen to move on to the battle rounds.

Still, though... She seemed to have done reasonably well.

So when the last appeal was finally over and the board above the stage lit up to list the names of the people who advanced to the next round, May was a bit shocked – yet pleasantly so – to find "May Maple" displayed on the screen.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

There we go :) I'm sorry if it seemed a bit rushed or anything. There wasn't much Drew in this chapter... at all. (Or Harley or Solidad for that matter...)

But there's the appearance of Brianna! The appearance of Brianna_ always _means _something _in fics, right? ;)

Thanks for reading, and reviews are certainly appreciated! xx


	7. The Royalty

After the initial shock of seeing her name passed, May searched for other familiar ones. Not surprisingly, Drew, Harley, and Solidad had all made it through as well. Since the beginning, May somehow had a feeling they were a talented coordinating group. Her stomach clenched in the realization that she might even have to battle against one of them.

…_Talk about humiliation._

Oh well. She'd make the best of it when the time came.

"Now," she heard Vivian Meridian's voice exclaim through the stadium's sound system. "Congratulations to the top 32 coordinators that passed the appeals! Please give them a round of applause!"

The audience cheered and clapped.

"Now, the first battle will begin immediately!" began Vivian excitedly as the board displaying the names began shuffling them – then it turned blank. "The first two opponents are…!"

The crowd, coordinators, and judges watched the screen, waiting for names to show up.

"…Brianna Wakana…"

Some whoops and claps arose from the audience.

"…and May Maple! Come out here, you two!"

The situation took a while to sink into May's head, as Solidad gently pushed her out onto the stage. Brendan watched in amusement as his brunette classmate, in a shocked trance, tripped and stumbled into view onto the stage. The other girl, however, quickly walked onto the stage and assumed her position on the other side of the arena. She bore the same air of shy confidence she exuded earlier.

Brendan had found a spot near the front of the stage, and so he knew May would hear him if he shouted, "Go for it, May!" loudly enough.

He watched as her eyes came back into focus from that one bit of encouragement. He watched as she began searching the crowd for, he knew, his signature white hat. He grinned encouragingly when their eyes met. He watched as the corner of her lip twisted up into a small smile. He watched as she then focused her attention back across the stage to the matter before her, albeit with a new blaze in her eyes.

* * *

"This battle is between Brianna Wakana and May Maple for the ascension to the next round," declared the referee. "Coordinators, select your Pokemon."

May clenched the two shrunk metal balls she held in her clammy right hand, unsure of whether to let them out or wait. She saw Brianna take out two PokeBalls from her pocket, and toss them a few yards in front of her petite body.

"Vibrava, Budew – I choose you!"

May assumed that was her cue to release her Pokemon as well. After all this, somebody would have to explain to her the finer details of contest etiquette. Seriously.

"Beautifly, Mudkip! Take the stage!"

The brunette released a mental sigh of relief when the butterfly and small blue reptile materialized. She'd been worried that she might have mixed up the PokeBalls out of sheer clumsiness. Because it just _seemed_ like something she'd do in such a critical moment.

"Begin!"

Brianna wasted in no time in immediately starting off with a powerful combination, and called, "Go Vibrava, Dragonbreath! Budew, Bullet Seed!"

As the two Pokemon used their attacks, the moves melded into each other so that the rough seeds circled and swirled along the length of the the green stream of energy, increasing both the beauty and power of the combination.

"Mudkip, hop on Beautifly and dodge!"

Immediately, the small blue Pokemon jumped on Beautifly's back as the latter quickly flew away, effectively avoiding the attack. Brianna's points decreased. The redhead furrowed her brow.

"Vibrava, trap them with Sand Tomb!"

May watched, wide-eyed, as a tornado of sand whipped up from the ground, engulfing her Pokemon who were now trapped and buffeted. May's points decreased. Some part of her began panicking. Then May remembered seeing such a situation on the show – in a battle, someone's Pokemon had been encased by Sand Tomb, exactly like the case here. The trapped Pokemon had broken free with a Mega Kick.

But she had no Mega Kick available.

And so, on a whim, an idea flashed into her mind. Praying for its success, May screamed, "Ice Beam, Mudkip!" right as Brianna launched another attack aimed as a direct hit – SolarBeam.

Mudkip obeyed, and conjured a very impressive Ice beam considering its situation. Unconventionally, however, the attack didn't go straight – instead, its path was altered by the sheer strength of the whirling Sand Tomb. The Ice Beam began whirling with the tornado, blending strips of freezing sky blue energy into the brown, earthy sand. A heartbeat later, the Sand Tomb had been totally frozen over – a sight that now resembled a spectacular cone-less ice cream cone.

Which is exactly what May wanted to happen.

It was only icing on the cake that Budew's Solar Beam – which hit a moment later – happened to be the move that shattered the ice, freed Mudkip and Beautifly, and became Brianna's own downfall.

For that, the redhead lost a sizable amount of points.

Mudkip gracefully landed on its feet, Beautifly hovering not that far away. The two eagerly awaited commands from May, although right now, watching the shocked expressions on their opponents wasn't a bad way to pass the time.

"Beautifly! Silver Spore!"

Flying straight up, the Butterfly Pokemon began exuding a shimmering green powder. Then, before it could drift down to affect its ally below, Beautifly quickly began flapping its wings until an intense wind highlighted with silver crescents was conjured. The Silver Wind blew through the previous move, taking the spores with it.

Aimed directly for Brianna's Pokemon, the redhead shouted, "Vibrava! Counter with Dragonbreath!"

The result was a very impressive collision in mid-air. The meeting point of the attacks was closer to Brianna's as opposed to May's Pokemon, and thus her Pokemon were the ones who took the larger fall – but definitely not as bad as it could've been if the Silver Spore combination hadn't been interfered with. Because May's combination was interfered, she lost a few points. Because Brianna's Pokemon still got hit, _she _lost a few points.

* * *

Brianna gritted her teeth. She was losing by a good portion, and – after a glance of the clock – she had two minutes left to make a comeback. The only thing she could do at this point was a knock-out.

"Budew, hop on Vibrava! Vibrava – Fly! Budew, Energy Ball!"

She was horrified when she realized that her Pokemon were unable to do anything. It dawned on her that the Stun Spore still had its repercussions on her Pokemon when the smoke billowed and engulfed her Pokemon, even if the combination had been interfered with. Panic crept into her voice.

"C'mon guys! Don't give in!"

* * *

_I got her._

"Let's go for it! Mudkip, Ice Beam! Beautifly, Silver Wind!"

The Pokemon obeyed. The attacks headed straight for the Budew and Vibrava, with the Ice Beam aiming closer to Vibrava and Silver Wind for Budew. May saw her opponent's eyes widen in fear.

"I believe in you! Come on, dodge!"

It was no good. The moves were direct hits, in addition to being super effective. When the smoke dissipated a moment later, the result was obvious. The Vibrava and Budew laid on their backs on the ground, down for the count, their eyes swirling.

"The victory goes to May Maple and her Mudkip and Beautifly!" announced the referee decisively.

* * *

When May returned to the ready room – Brianna trailing only a little ways behind her – she was greeted by a scatter of applause accompanied by impressed looks. May smiled shyly, feeling a faint blush creep onto her face. She felt a light tap on her shoulder. In response, the brunette turned around to find her opponent grinning at her.

"I'm Brianna," she said. "You did great. That was a really good battle."

Beaming at the girl, May replied, "You too!"

"How long have you been coordinating? I've never seen you around before," mused the redhead.

"Ah… I… not long, actually," confessed the brunette.

"Really? You must also be a trainer, then."

Did battling with plastic cards and playing through the Pokemon regions on her DS count as being a trainer?

"Yeah, um… sort of."

"Sort of?" asked Brendan, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, um-"

"May!"

"Oh, hey Solidad," said May, whirling to face the older girl as she breathed a mental sigh of relief.

Solidad had quite the impeccable timing. May had had no idea how to respond to Brianna's implication.

"That was a great battle, you two," said Solidad.

"Oh my gosh," gasped Brianna. "Are you Solidad of Pewter City?"

Solidad looked at the girl, bemused. "I am."

"I know you! You won the Kanto Grand Festival last season! I was really close to qualifying, but got runner-up at my last-chance contest," admitted Brianna. "You're my role model!"

"Thank you. That means a lot," said Solidad, smiling at the girl.

Brianna beamed, then turned to May.

"This is amazing! It was worth it to battle you if I got a chance to talk to the _Solidad, _the _Queen_ of_ Kanto_!"

May giggled and gave Solidad a "really?" look by a slight cock of her eyebrow. The older girl flushed slightly and looked away in embarrassment.

"Wait! But Solidad, you travel with-"

May stared questioningly at Brianna, who had abruptly cut herself off and gone wide-eyed at something. Flickering her own gaze to the new point of interest that apparently appeared, May turned to see who it was – though she thought she might've had a good guess.

And there he was – hands casually tucked in his pockets. Each blade of grassy hair perfectly in place. Passive face, yet his interested and speculating eyes said otherwise.

"Not bad for a first contest, May," he said coolly.

Personally, May thought his tone was only a few degrees away from a sneer. Like it usually was.

"…Than-"

"_You're Drew of LaRousse City!_" blurted the redhead, whose facial color was beginning to match her own hair. "You… you're amazing!"

* * *

"Hey, thank you," said Drew coolly, smiling a slightly strained and polite – yet still dazzling – smile. "You weren't bad yourself."

The girl now seemed dangerously close to passing out.

"May," he heard her whisper. "You're… you're _friends_ with them?"

"Um…" murmured May – rather uncomfortably, he noted. "I…I suppose you could say that?"

"That's cold, May." He smirked, having concocted a scheme that might yield interesting results.

Drew took a few steps towards her, so that he was standing directly in front of her. Then he leaned in slightly, automatically noting that she was only a few inches shorter than him. All things considered, it was a rather flirtatious gesture.

"What about yesterday?" he breathed.

The redhead's eyes widened. Drew recalled her name as having been Brianna... right?

"Yesterday?" the girl asked timidly, right as May scowled and rolled her eyes.

"Yes," she began. "Yesterday was the first time I met the almighty, _all-powerful_ King Drew. It was a momentous and climatic point in my sixteen years of living."

Drew shrugged, straightening up again.

"Sounds about right. Except they actually call me Prince of Hoenn, but I wouldn't expect you to know that."

May rolled her eyes again, muttering something under breath. Drew then decided it was his cue to make a suave exit, and began walking away from the group, and said, "Later. I'm on deck."

As he walked away, he vaguely heard Solidad excuse herself too.

* * *

"M-May…" stuttered Brianna as they watched him line up somewhere near the stage entrance.

"Yes?"

"Did I just… talk to _the_ Drew?" she asked dazedly.

"Um… I guess so?"

"I can die happy," the girl murmured dreamily.

May cocked an eyebrow, an action she seemed to be doing pretty often lately.

"I don't get it. What's so great about…" she began, jerking her thumb in the direction in which Drew had just left. "_Him_?"

"You don't know about Drew?" gasped Brianna, her eyes widening.

May shook her head and muttered, "Aside from the fact he's egocentric, has hair like spinach, a total _jerk-_"

"No! No, no, no, no," said Brianna quickly as she abruptly began shaking her head. She then looked at May, her eyes shining. "He… he was the greatest child coordinating prodigy when he first started out. He's qualified for every single Grand Festival he's ever aimed for. He's always finished at least top 16 in each one he's entered… and he's only sixteen! And he's _so _attractive, he… He's the _Prince_ of Hoenn!"

May winced.

"Do people really call him that?"

Nodding eagerly, Brianna continued, "_Coordinator Weekly_ came up with it. Then all the MCs started saying it in contests. And it kind of just caught on… but it fits him so well, doesn't it?! He's… so _perfect_..."

May was confused. From her experience, he was just a guy with weird hair genes and that stereotypical cute-but-a-jerk personality. Emphasis on the jerk. But she wasn't about to argue with Brianna – maybe ignorance was bliss. Or maybe he was just rude to May, specifically… The thought angered her. What'd she done to him, anyway? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. For the love of... of... of _Arceus_, they'd only met yesterday! She'd only been in this dimension since two days ago, so there's no way she could've done something to him before!

_But he wasn't rude to Brianna_...

"Hello? May? Did you hear what I said?"

May blinked at Brianna. Apparently she had blanked out and lost herself in her own thoughts.

"Er, sorry… You lost me when you talked about why he's a prince."

"I said, 'Are you going to stay here or leave and come back later for round two?'" huffed Brianna playfully.

"Oh… we can do that?"

"Of course. Staying in here would be pointless. Especially when there's fourteen more battles after this one in progress right now."

"Yes!" laughed May. "Yes, let's get out of here. These lockers are a bit too interesting for my taste," she added sarcastically.

Brianna giggled. "Do you have friends in the stands?"

"Yeah… one."

"C'mon, let's go find them, then!"

* * *

After they found Brendan (who, coincidentally, was just about to go find the ready room to congratulate May), Brianna had gaped for a little while before turning to May and hastily whispering, "How do you know all these _cute_ and/or _famous_ people?!"

May wasn't sure how to respond, so she made a facial expression that somewhat resembled an apologetic, sheepish grin. They then settled into the surprisingly comfortable spectator seats. When asked, Brianna assured May that she would stay until the contest was over, and then go to the afterparty.

"What afterparty?" asked May.

"Well, after every contest, they usually have a mingling sort of party where there's food and sometimes music and entertainment or something. It's to encourage friendly relations… or something."

"Is it formal?"

Brianna pondered it.

"It can be, if you want to. Most people just go in their regular clothes, though. It's pretty casual."

They then watched the rest of the battles, which happened to span another hour or so. To pass the time, the three of them made easy conversation, although neither May or Brendan would ever respond to Brianna's background questions with much detail. ("What town are you from?" "When did you start your journey?" "What regions and cities have you been to?")

Finally, it was time for May to head back down into the ready room for the second round. She waved Brendan and Brianna good-bye, and was responded to with a "Good luck!" and "Make me proud, Maple!"

* * *

Her second battle was, admittedly, a bit more challenging than Brianna. May faced a boy who seemed roughly the same age as her who had blonde hair, blue-gray eyes, a black blazer, navy jeans, and was rather handsome. And for every bit as he was attractive, his Fearow and Luxio matched it in toughness. May's victory had been an excruciatingly narrow one. She only did so because they ran out of time – but he had trailed her by literally only one point. Their battle had been responded to with an impressive chorus of cheers and applause.

Her third battle – or, what would have been her third battle – was stood up by her opponent. In other words, her would-be opponent had failed to successfully show up in time for the battle – granting May an immediate pass to the next round. May knew she had caught nothing more than a lucky break on her third battle, but she was still shocked that she had actually gotten this far. She was still especially shocked that she had managed to beat that blonde guy (whose name she hadn't caught when it had been announced by Vivian, because she couldn't hear much except for her frantic, nervous heartbeat).

Since the number of people who had passed the appeals was only thirty-two, that meant that by the beginning of the fourth round, there were only four coordinators left. She was in the top four. Out of the two hundred plus people who had entered.

_Only beginner's luck. Or maybe all that time spent on Pokemon has finally paid off_, mused May. _But thinking of winning would be pushing it._

After all, Drew had made it to the final four as well, along with Solidad (who had faced Harley in the third round and won). May had watched their battles with massive interest, automatically taking mental notes on their styles and, more subtlely, their strategies.

She really didn't want to have to go against them, but she knew the odds were against her _not_ going against them.

* * *

Right now, she was in the ready room again. It hadn't been long since her automatic third round pass – barely even twenty minutes. Which made sense, since the number of battles taking place was steadily decreasing by the round, and each battle was, at most, five minutes. At the moment, the contest was taking an intermission – re-prepping the stage, fixing sound system bugs, etc. in preparation for the semi-final and final rounds.

There were only three other people in the room – Drew, Solidad, and some other boy who seemed older than her by a few years. His hair was a mellow shade of crimson, and he donned a simple black hoodie, white shirt, and jeans. May thought he was moderately attractive.

The tension in the room was pretty high, despite the fact that May was at least some sort of acquainted with Drew and Solidad already. Nobody spoke as everyone was concentrated on their upcoming battles. May was thinking - lost in her own thoughts - when she was abruptly startled by the return of Vivian Meridian's voice through the speakers.

"And…we're back! It's been an exciting day, and we only have three battles left to go! The remaining coordinators are all very talented, so please give them a round of applause!"

The audience complied eagerly.

"Now… the first battle of the semi-finals of this season's Rustboro Contest! The first coordinator in the first semi-final battle is…"

The board flashed the four remaining names over and over again dramatically. Then it stopped. One name was displayed on the board.

"Solidad Saori!"

May heard Solidad exhale as the older girl got up, brushed herself off, and walked out of the ready room onto the stage to the cheers of the crowd. May passed her a small smile while Drew had audibly, yet quietly, muttered, "Good luck."

"And…"

The room tensed, awaiting the name that would unluckily be forced to go up against the winner of last year's Kanto Grand Festival.

"May Maple!"

_The odds weren't in my favor, huh?_

Still, there was nothing she could do as she got up and walked out onto the stage for the fifth time that day.

* * *

"This battle is between Solidad Saori and May Maple for the ascension to the final round," recited the referee. "Coordinators, select your Pokemon!"

Unsurprisingly, May went with the only options she had – Mudkip and Beautifly. Again.

"Take the stage!"

"Go! Slowbro! Pidgeot!" commanded Solidad as she released two Pokemon, one of which very obviously resembled a bird. The other one…was something between a pink otter and a hippo with a large _thing_ attached to its tail.

"Begin!"

* * *

May was losing pretty badly. She was down to 1/3 of her points, while Solidad still had 4/5 of her points. There were two minutes left on the clock, and her Pokemon were barely standing. Solidad's Pokemon hardly had a scratch, though they did seem the tiniest bit winded. Honestly, she didn't know what she could possibly do at this point to turn this around. _Could_ she even do anything to turn things around now? The older girl was just too good.

Then she remembered. May couldn't believe she had forgotten about it. That combination Brendan had come up with yesterday for her, in case she was coming down to the wire and was in desperate need of a fix.

"Beautifly!" she said. "Whirlwind!"

May knew all eyes were on her and her Pokemon as they tried to decode her plan. Mustering its strength, Beautifly quickly began flapping its winds until waves and waves of powerful winds appeared. They didn't seem to aim for Solidad's Pokemon, though – more like the winds were simply there as a powerful protective barrier.

"Morning Sun!"

And there it was. A dazzling ball of light that seemed to have been a piece broken off from the sun itself. Mudkip and Beautifly basked in the rays that seemed to magically remove their scrapes and scratches. For the combination, Solidad's points were deducted.

"Slowbro, Hyper Beam!"

The Hermit Crab Pokemon obeyed. It took a few moments to charge the attack, but when it did, it was huge burst of white energy that aimed directly for the opposing Pokemon. The Whirlwind was unable to do much against holding off the powerful attack, but it was able to give Beautifly and Mudkip that few extra moments to regenerate what they could from the Morning Sun.

It also gave May a crucial split second to decide what to do next. As it gave in with a roar, the brunette knew what her next course of action needed to be.

She screamed, "Mudkip, Protect!"

However, May worried that amidst the attacks and the audience, Mudkip may not have heard the command. There was a huge explosion as the Hyper Beam collided into what seemed to be Beautifly and Mudkip.

For a moment, nobody breathed.

Then, as the smoke dissipated, it became clear that all was not what it seemed.

Beautifly and Mudkip were conscious and standing, taking the moment to revel in the full glory of everybody's shock. As a result, Solidad's points decreased once again. Solidad seemed surprised, but she regained her composure a moment later and resumed the battle.

"Pidgeot, FeatherDance! Slowbro, Psychic!"

The Bird Pokemon's wings began glowing white as it shot equally bright feathers at its opponents at admirable speed. A moment later, the feathers began glowing with a purple hue as Slowbro's Psychic attack took over control. They now hurled with lightning speed towards May's Pokemon.

There was nothing she could do to try to dodge. The combination was too fast – and as a result, Mudkip and Beautifly took a hit. May's points decreased. The brunette gritted her teeth. She now had 1/4 of her points left. All it would take was a blazing combination from Solidad to defeat her.

Which is exactly what Solidad seemed to have been thinking, for the older girl immediately followed up the Psychic FeatherDance with, "Hyper Ace!"

May's stomach dropped as she realized what that probably was.

Slowbro began charging another Hyper Beam as Pidgeot took off for an Aerial Ace, heading straight for Beautifly and Mudkip.

Right before the Bird Pokemon made contact, May yelled, "Protect!" for the second time that day.

* * *

Pidgeot ran into a barrier. The force immediately stopped it in its tracks with a force that was not unlike sprinting straight into a window - as it knew from experience. However, it felt the invisible shield give a tiny bit.

* * *

Like it always did, Slowbro took a little while longer to charge a Hyper Beam than most other Pokemon. However, the results were always just as powerful, if not more so_._ It released the attack like it always did.

But it grew nervous when it realized that Pidgeot wasn't getting out of the way for the Hyper Beam like it was supposed to after its hit-and-run Aerial Ace.

There was nothing it could do as the Hyper Beam headed straight for the back of its partner.

* * *

The smoke dissipated slowly. May felt herself hold her breath as she tried to make out something – _anything –_ in what resulted of Solidad's catastrophic Hyper Ace combination.

To her horror, her Pokemon were out cold. That was undisputed.

However, Solidad's Pidgeot was also out. It lay no more than two yards away from Mudkip and Beautifly. And far away – nearly across the entire field – was Slowbro, somehow also knocked out.

Well, these were certainly astonishing results. There was silence in the stadium as everyone tried to make sense of what had just happened.

After several moments of quiet, the referee finally spoke in an authoritative voice, "The winner of this battle is Solidad Saori from Pewter City."

* * *

What happened was that the Hyper Beam had knocked Pidgeot out clean after it failed to get out of the way after its hit-and-run like it was supposed to. That much was simple enough to grasp.

However, the power and force also broke through the Protect, hitting Mudkip and Beautifly.

But in the process, the attack also somehow partially rebounded off the Protect, and back onto Slowbro. Everybody only figured this out after watching the replay. However, Solidad was right to have won. That much had been sure. After the knockout, she was the one who had left the battle with the most points remaining.

* * *

After her battle with Solidad, the second semi-final battle had proceeded. Long story short, Drew defeated the red-haired boy - Jasper seemed to have been his name - rather soundly.

After that was the finals, which had pitted Solidad against Drew (a situation May assumed must have occurred many times in the past already.) A longer story short, Solidad was the one who had come out on top. However, May thought it was pretty obvious that Drew had put up much more of a tougher fight than May had.

Not long after that last battle, Solidad had been presented with the Rustboro Ribbon. The intricate golden pin and artistic tangle of silver-trimmed crimson ribbon was undoubtedly pretty.

May wasn't totally sure how to feel. Obviously, she had done this entire thing just for _fun _- after all, she wasn't going to be participating in contests full-time or aiming for any Grandiose Festivals. She didn't belong in this world... which is why she needed to get back to her main problem as soon as possible. Which, of course, was a labyrinth of mysteries and questions in itself.

But she still felt disappointed.

* * *

The twilight splattered a palette of warm colors across the sky, with the occasional fluffy cloud strewn here and there. The temperature was absolutely perfect - a wonderful end to an eyeopening day.

Right after Solidad had been presented her ribbon, Vivian Meridian had excitedly reminded all to come to the after party. The event would take place in the lobby of the Rustboro contest hall and begin at precisely 7pm. All were invited.

May and Brendan decided they would attend, because hey - free food.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

.. I was seriously not expecting the contest to go on for so long x_e

as always, reviews are very much appreciated :)


	8. The Afterparty

"So are you seriously not surprised with how well you did?" asked Brendan with a chuckle.

After the contest, the pair had returned to their room at the Pokemon center, though not before bidding Brianna, Drew, Harley, and Solidad a "see you at the party". As of now, May and Brendan were casually lying on their respective beds (that conveniently paralleled each other anyway). Currently, they were simply talking and killing time before heading to the after party and, (more importantly) their dinner.

From his position, Brendan could nonchalantly watch the moderately-sized window that showed only a small part of the beauty of Rustboro City. He had his hands casually laced behind his head. On her bed, May was absentmindedly sipping her water bottle while staring at the ceiling, searching for unrecognizable patterns.

"Did I?"

"You don't think so?"

"Well... I don't know," she mused. "I think I did alright, for someone who just got their first real Pokemon the day before."

"Just _alright_? You got top four in apparently a really big contest. That might be more than just _alright_."

"What do you want me to say? That I was amazing and stupendous and so fabulous that I must be the most talented coordinator the world has ever seen?"

Brendan grinned, tearing his gaze away from the window and looking at the brunette. She copied the action, twisting her neck to look at him as well.

"Yeah," he said. "Something like that."

The brunette chuckled, "I know." After a pause, she continued, "Not to be full of myself, but I think I did weirdly well..."

"And?"

"And… I sort of have an explanation for that," confessed May. "A little far-fetched, but something."

"Shoot."

"Well, maybe it's because I already _know _all this stuff? Maybe, at some point, I just put all the years of watching the show and watching so many battles... and just shoved the ideas from when I dreamed about real-life Pokemon together… and it just became… That. Today."

"Yeah," said Brendan, turning his gaze back to the window. "I know what you mean."

"And I'm just lucky that my Pokemon are strong too, and…"

"You know," began Brendan. "If your theory is right, then it should apply to me too, shouldn't it? I've spent countless hours in front of my TV and laptop watching episodes and stuff. I think I know just as much as you."

The brunette pondered the proposition.

"So then I should be just as good at this as you are," he said. "And Ash. And June. And Dawn."

May rolled over onto her stomach, burying her head into her pillow.

She tiredly sounded a muffled, "Want to test that?"

Brendan chuckled.

"Not now."

Deciding it wasn't good for conversational purposes, May flipped onto her back again so that her voice wasn't indistinct because of her pillow. She sighed.

"How are we going to find them again, Brendan? Or go back?" she whispered.

The corner of Brendan's lips pulled down.

"Fate," he said simply. "It'll be okay."

May groaned.

"How do you _know_ that?" she whined.

"… I don't," he admitted. "But then again, I don't know how or why we're here, either. That doesn't mean I'm not going to find out, does it?"

May scowled slightly, displeased by his vague answer and logic.

"Hey hey, it's the best I can do right now!"

May turned her head in his direction again, and sighed, "Me too."

Brendan stopped and took that chance to look at her again. His heart quickened slightly and his stomach flopped a bit as he looked at her face and into her eyes more intensely than he had in the past few minutes. He searched her azure eyes. What he found was - despite her smile - a diverse barrage of uncertainty, confusion, and somehow, a slightly dreamy distantness that he had grown accustomed to finding every time he looked at her.

Brendan looked away. Honestly, now, he was just tempting his own hormones.

A period of silence ensued for a few minutes as the two were quiet and still. Brendan stared at the ceiling, expressionless, stoic... trying to play it cool as he felt May's continued gaze on him.

He wondered what she was thinking. He wondered what she thought of him. Some part of him wished he didn't care so much what she might think, because she was just a friend.

But see, the thing was, he kind of did.

* * *

Groggily, May slowly opened her eyes one by one. Upon inspection of the window, she could tell it was already twilight, given that it was starting to get pretty dark already. Standing up slowly so as to avoid vertigo, May realized that they must have fallen asleep after their talk. Glancing over at Brendan, she saw that he was still asleep, his chest rising and falling gently with his slow breath.

The next thing she looked at was the digital clock on the bedside counter, which currently read "6:48". Oh well, she thought. They could afford to be late to some simple afterparty.

Still, though. It would've been a good idea to rouse Brendan soon. Running her hand through her messed-up-anyways hair, she crossed the short distance from her bed to the side of Brendan's. Just as May was reaching out a hand to gently shake him awake, she heard him say something. Her name.

"May…" he grunted, nearly inaudibly.

The girl assumed he was awake and responding to her presence.

"C'mon Brendan, it's almost 7," she said quietly, still drowsy herself.

There was no response from the boy, whose eyes were still lidded and whose face was still serene. May frowned.

"Brendan?"

"Eyes…" he mumbled softly.

May watched him, unsure of what to do. Was he still asleep? Sleep talking?

"...pphire…s..."

The girl lifted an eyebrow as she looked down at her friend's sleeping figure. He dreamed about her eyes being like sapphires?

"About you… I…"

She never heard what "about her, he" was, because in that moment his eyelids abruptly flickered and, albeit wide-eyed, he was awake. May watched him in amusement as a small giggle escaped her lips. Noting the laughter, Brendan's eyes blinked at the figure standing by his bed who was apparently laughing at him.

"Did I say something?" he asked as he propped himself up on one elbow while cradling his head with the other arm. Then he winced. "_Augh_, blood rush."

"Not really," said May mildly. "Come on, we're going to be late."

Brendan groaned again as he fell back onto the bed.

* * *

The illuminated contest hall stood out against the dark backdrop of the sky, but still fit in naturally with the rest of the lit city. Streamers and a few balloons that weren't there earlier in the day were strewn around the entrance.

Upon entering, May's eyes had to adjust to the bright lighting. When they finally did, she took in the scene around her.

The lobby was, for the most part, redecorated. Warmly-colored streamers were pinned up on the indoor pillars, and tables with refreshments lined the sides of the room. The armchairs, sofas, and coffee tables had been pushed to places closer to the edges of the room. Somehow, the collection of receptionist desks in the middle had totally left the room, although May could've sworn they looked pretty bolted to the floor earlier. Cliques of wandering, socializing people filled the room.

May exchanged a wary glance with Brendan. She'd never been much of a crowd person.

In a blatant attempt to cheer her up, Brendan spontaneously grinned and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Food!" he said, with a glint in his eye.

May's eyes shone with the same anticipation, if not brighter.

"_Yes_!" she shouted in victory, eyeing the tables of refreshments and food.

For the most part, they seemed to be assorted types of were also pitchers of drinks, plastic cups, plastic utensils, paper plates, berries like the ones they had found on their first night in the wild, and…

"…Wait, is that _pizza_?" asked May incredulously.

"Seriously, there's Italy somewhere here? Gotta be honest, I thought it was an our-world-exclusive kind of thing," wondered Brendan aloud. "Was there World War II too?"

May shook her head in disbelief.

"Rule of thumb from here on out... never question the Pokemon world."

Brendan gazed around him in mock newfound wonder, as if the proposition of the existence of Italy in this dimension showed him a new light. "...Agreed."

Just then, May's stomach growled. She grinned sheepishly when Brendan cast her a bemused expression.

"What? I'm hungry! I have this relationship with food that's superior to all other relationships," boasted May.

Chuckling, Brendan said, "Yeah, you keep thinking that. First… I'm going to go try to find the bathroom…"

"And I'll be having an affair with those hors d'oeuvres there in the corner…"

"Keep it PG," mocked Brendan as he turned to leave for his grand expedition for the men's bathroom.

* * *

Although maybe not literally verbatim, May kept her word. After Brendan left to find the toilets, May had made her way over to the food, grabbed a plate, loaded it, and then retreated to a relatively empty, solemn corner where she could crouch and eat in peace.

She was halfway through a fruity piece of what seemed to be sushi when a pair of jeans and shoes suddenly blocked her view. May looked up to see the face of the person who had obviously come to approach her. She recognized the casually tousled blonde hair, gray eyes, and well-fitted black blazer as belonging to her second round opponent – the one who had been quite attractive.

He looked down at her with some sort of amused smile. May swallowed her food before speaking.

"Can I help you?"

The blonde crouched down so he was level with her.

Eyes glittering, he said, "A little. Are you May, my second round opponent?"

"Yep. That's my name." Then, frowning, she sheepishly continued, "Sorry, I didn't catch yours?"

"Ryder."

"Ryder," she repeated, feeling the name roll on her tongue. "I've always liked that name. I don't know a lot of Ryders, but it suits you."

"May," he said. "I've always liked that name. I don't know a lot of Mays, but it suits you," echoed Ryder with a playful smirk.

May grinned. This Ryder guy – he reminded her of one of those characters straight of the movies… attractive, a flirt, good with words and (more often than not) women.

"You did really good today," said Ryder. "How long have you been coordinating? I would've remembered talent as breathtaking as yours."

The corner of his lips pulled up into a flirtatious, confident smirk. May returned the coy smile as well as she could.

"I'm not… really from around here." She bit her lip. "This was actually my first contest," she admitted, a tinge of embarrassment coloring her tone.

Ryder lifted an eyebrow.

"Really? Your first…? Well, I guess that's why I haven't seen you around before." He paused. "And I guess it's how you've been avoiding _Coordinator Wee-_"

He was abruptly cut off by a newcomer who had appeared and enthusiastically bounded into him, shoving the blonde away. Taken aback, Ryder glared accusingly at the new appearance. Then he groaned.

"Speak of the devil…"

May had watched as the boy she was just talking to was shoved away by a bubbly girl with a teal pixie cut. She donned a gray vest, matching pencil skirt, and navy undershirt. Her PokeBall earrings dangled almost as happily as her crimson smile. A silver mechanical pencil was tucked behind her ear, and she clutched in her right hand a small notepad. The girl beamed at May, exposing a brilliant smile.

"Hi! I'm with _Coordinator Weekly_! My name is-"

"-Roxanne," muttered Ryder, who suddenly became sulky.

Roxanne shot the blonde a dark look. They obviously knew each other, observed May. _Maybe even have a little chemistry._

"Yeah. Roxanne," she huffed. "You're May Maple, right? Top four in the contest today?"

"Y-yeah..."

May watched as Roxanne pulled the utensil from behind her ear and began scribbling something.

"Now, May. Could I ask you for a quick interview?"

Roxanne's facial expression was so endearing at this point that May couldn't even fathom saying no. The young reporter beamed.

"Roxy," whined Ryder. "You're kind of killing my mood here."

"Good, she doesn't need your corruption," retorted Roxanne.

The two then continued to banter, apparently forgetting where they were. The pair only remembered May after the brunette released a quiet giggle at one of Ryder's comebacks.

"Sorry," apologized Roxanne. "He's insufferable. Anyways… May Maple." Roxanne's eyes shined again. "I did a brief background check on you. It seems that this was your first contest. Do you know that you did fantastically well, especially for your first time?"

"Er… I guess? I think I just caught a lucky break – beginner's luck, that's all."

"Hm…" said Roxanne as she continued to furiously scribble. "And you only used three Pokemon throughout the entire contest, two for the battle rounds. Why is that?"

"Oh, that's pretty easy. I only _had_ three Pokemon, one of which is actually my friend's."

"Really," mused Roxanne, jotting it down. "Tell me, May. How old are you?"

"Fifteen," answered May immediately. "Years," she added quickly – just to clarify, in case they didn't use months or years as a way of measuring time here in this world.

"Where are you from?"

"Ahh…" May chewed her lip nervously, unsure of how to answer. "…_Near_ Petalburg," she finally said.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow but didn't question the matter further. "And one last question! Are you alright with an article published about you in _Coordinator Weekly _magazine?"

"...Yes?"

Roxanne beamed, exposing her pearly white teeth again.

"Excellent!" she said as she began to stand up, brushing off her skirt as she did so. "Thanks so much. See you later, May!" Ryder cleared his throat. "...And Ryder," she finished distastefully.

"Bye, Roxy!" said Ryder with a mocking edge to his voice.

Roxanne shot Ryder one more dark look before disappearing into the crowd that was the contest afterparty. May looked at Ryder questioningly. The blonde noticed her gaze.

"What?"

"What was that?"

"Your confirmation for a whole article dedicated to you in the next _Coordinator Weekly_. Congratulations."

"Really," mused May. "And… I guess you know her?"

"Sorta, I guess… We're childhood friends," he admitted.

May grinned, an peculiar expression quickly overtaking her face.

"And nothing more?"

Ryder slightly lifted an eyebrow.

"What're you implying?"

The brunette giggled, "I think you know what I'm implying."

Ryder's face flushed, and he quickly turned away from May's stare. Despite that, his actions had given May all the confirmation she needed. She playfully nudged him.

"Despite first appearances, you're actually kind of sensitive," crooned May, not unlike how she would to a baby animal or Pokemon.

Ryder scowled at the turn of events and May's implication. Then he smirked.

Yeah? What about that guy you were in the stands and left the contest with? Seemed pretty chummy there."

May rolled her eyes. She supposed these sort of comments were unavoidable as long as Brendan was the only one she was going to be traveling with. Hopefully, they'd be joined by certain other familiar faces soon...

"He's a friend. Really."

Ryder snorted, "Yeah, okay."

"He is!"

Ryder studied May, trying to decipher if she was being dead serious or not. Something in her eyes made something click with him.

"Oh," he realized aloud. "Damn," the blonde muttered under his breath. "Guy's really holding back…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing," replied Ryder mildly. Then he grinned as he stole a piece of forgotten food from the plate the brunette still unconsciously held in her hands. "Nothing at all."

May was going to inquire further – until she was cut off by the sudden dimming of lights, anyway. A spotlight followed a short, balding man (whom May remembered with a start was Mr. Contesta) clutching a microphone to the middle of the lobby, in the center of everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, coordinators and friends," greeted Mr. Contesta. From her angle and position in the corner, May couldn't see Mr. Contesta at all. However, she heard him _just_ fine, considering one of the lobby's speakers was conveniently located _right_ beside her ear. "I hope you're all enjoying yourselves on this fine evening. I'll be out of your hair quickly, but I just wanted to announce that from here on out, we are officially in dance mode." He took a moment to chuckle at the whoops and cheers that had suddenly risen. "We've seen your Pokemon's moves – now show us _yours_."

May laughed at the corny pun and watched as Mr. Contesta left the attention of the room and went back to the sidelines. An upbeat song began playing, and it was quickly evident from the first verse that it was something about wanting to be the very best and traveling across the land. Her attention was abruptly turned to the person who was now lightly tapping her on the shoulder.

"Want to dance?" asked Ryder with a semi-mischievous glint in his eye.

"Sure," she said as she smiled, got up, brushed off crumbs, and followed Ryder into the middle of the room.

* * *

At first, May was apprehensive. Ever since – well, forever – she'd never been the dancer in any clique she'd ever been in. However, when Ryder began moving to the song, she couldn't help but burst out in peals of laughter at his terrible dancing. Ryder took her laughter in stride and simply responded with a goofy grin. Unconsciously, May began loosening up and eventually found herself thoroughly enjoying herself for the first time since she arrived in this world.

They were halfway through the third song when, out of the corner of her eye, May noticed her white-capped dark-haired friend on his way back with a curious expression plastered on his face.

"Hey, May," Brendan said when he was back next to her side. "Sorry, I got lost. Who's this?" he asked, referring to the new blonde guy, albeit with a slight tinge of apprehension and undeserved suspicion in his tone.

May did the introductions.

"Brendan, this is Ryder," she said. "Ryder, this is my friend, Brendan."

The blonde stuck out his hand, flashing a smile.

"So you're Brendan. Nice to meet you, bro."

Brendan accepted his handshake.

"Same. Thanks for keeping May company."

Pouting, May muttered, "Are you saying I need to be babysat?"

"Was it too discrete?" asked Brendan, grinning at May's reaction of crossing her arms and rolling her eyes in mock anger.

Ryder watched them with amusement.

"Are you sure you're not dating?"

"No, we're not! Stop, we're like… brother and sister!" replied May hotly as she playfully hit the blonde's arm.

Brendan said nothing.

* * *

Ryder mentally noted Brendan's silence with interest. "Well," he eventually said. "Truthfully, I think I'm gonna leave now."

"Leave the party? But it's still early…" murmured May.

"Yeah. I'm having an early morning tomorrow. It was nice to meet you, May," said Ryder. Then he began slowly leaning in...

* * *

Brendan watched as Ryder stooped to May's level. Inside, he felt shock electrocute his body as the guy's lips made a brief, gentle contact with May's cheek. May's reaction was unabashed – a blush had hardly risen, and all the blonde got was an eye roll and a playful shove away. Evidently, she wasn't perturbed by the flirtatious action, and Brendan breathed a mental sigh of relief he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"Bye, Ryder. Take care!"

"Yeah, you too. Maybe we'll meet up again sometime."

Ryder began to walk in Brendan's direction – which made sense, considering the door was only a little ways directly behind him. As Ryder passed by, Brendan heard the blonde mutter something so softly that only Brendan could hear it.

"Don't stay friendzoned."

* * *

As May and Brendan caught up with each other the last twenty minutes or so, a slow song began playing. Both of them decided aloud that it was a romantic song the moment the lyrics, "He drives me out of my mind, so why do I worry about him?" graced the sound system.

Upon observation of all the other pairs who were on the dance floor, May and Brendan also mutually found it acceptable to dance like the majority. This meant that Brendan's left hand was grasped with May's right, and their respective opposite hands were around the others' waist. They moved slowly and slightly.

"Kind of awkward?" muttered Brendan.

Rolling her eyes, May replied, "I dance with my dad like this all the time, so no." She grinned. "Not really."

"Well, alright then..." There was silence for a while. Brendan decided it was his role to restart the conversation again. "So… That Ryder guy…"

"Huh?"

"Er... What'd he say to you?"

"Not much," said May casually. "Why?"

"He… sort of said something to me."

"When he was leaving? I saw that," said May. "What'd he say?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Never mind."

Another wave of silence fell upon the two. May was totally comfortable and oblivious to any awkwardness that one might assume to occur from this situation. Brendan, on the other hand, was intentionally trying to watch other happenings. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite as oblivious to the resulting awkwardness here.

* * *

After another two songs passed, May felt a gentle double-tap on her left shoulder. She halted her light swaying with Brendan, broke away from her friend, and turned to face whoever had obviously yearned for her attention.

When she did, May found herself looking into the bright jade orbs of the only person who even _had_ chartreuse-enough hair to rival his own eyes. His facial expression was that of humor, tiredness, and slight annoyance – if that was even possible.

"Hey, Drew!"

"Hey," he replied coolly. He then diverted his eye contact to Brendan. "Mind if I cut in for a bit?"

* * *

Brendan _really_ didn't want this guy to dance with May, even "for a little bit" – though it wasn't anything personal against Grasshead (alright, maybe a _little, _but really, he was a bit of a… insert preferred derogatory word here). Still, though, it was no big deal, right? _Right?_

Anyways, it would've been rude to decline.

"Sure," he ended up saying mildly, officially handing May to Drew.

As the two assumed the position he had been in only moments before with May – Drew's left hand with May's right, their respective opposite hands around the other's waist – Brendan thought it proper to slink away from the pair and give them some privacy. Not that they should've needed much, but it was etiquette. So... as he had made his way to a wall and casually leaned against it, Brendan tried his best to take his eyes off the brunette and grasshead.

* * *

"So, did you want to talk about something, Drew?"

Drew shrugged, an action that was somewhat difficult to do when they were dancing the way they were.

"Solidad wanted me to invite you and Brendan to spend the day with us tomorrow."

May was surprised, and slightly taken aback by the proposition. "Really?"

"Were you going to leave?"

"Well… uh… we kind of… have something important to do right now…"

Drew seemed suspiciously intrigued, but didn't pursue the matter. "Would it be terrible to take a day off? Half a day?"

"Well, you could say it's a bit urgent." There was a brief moment of silence. Then May asked skeptically, "Why do you want us to come so insistently?"

Drew cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm insistent right now?"

"Well, for anyone else, not really. But for you... yeah."

Snorting, the boy said, "It's because Solidad'll be on my back about not pressuring you or making you feel welcome enough if you don't agree."

May chuckled. "She's so nice," said the brunette sincerely.

"Guess you could say that."

"Is that it? Solidad's on your back about it?"

"I don't mind all of us going out to brunch, if that's what you're getting at. You're not that bad."

"Really?" May beamed, then mockingly sighed in relief. "I thought you didn't like me."

"…Why?"

"You're mean to me! And mocking, and rude, and-…"

"Can't handle _this_?" drawled Drew, smirking as he did so.

"It's not _you_, it's your _attitude_!"

They ended up bickering like that for a while, albeit quietly so as to not disturb the other dancers and/or interrupt the music. The scene was made a little more ironic, seeing as they were still couple-dancing.

"Anyways," sighed Drew after a couple of rounds of retorts and comebacks. "Tomorrow morning at ten, same Pokemon center as yesterday."

May scowled slightly, disliking his authoritative tone. Well, the time and place had probably already been decided by Solidad and Harley and such and Drew was simply reciting their plans, but still. The fact that the information was coming from _his_ mouth was still…dislikable.

"See you, May."

And with that, Drew released his hand from May's, unwound his arm from the small of her back, turned around, and walked away with his hands in his pockets as the song that had been playing wound down its final notes. May didn't even have a chance to say good-bye.

He walked away as the song ended, realized May.

_Did he plan that? _

The girl smiled softly in the direction that Drew had left.

_Dork._

* * *

Shortly afterwards, May and Brendan decided to head back to the Pokemon center (but not before trying out every type of food available at least _once_, of course), since Brendan had complained about being tired. May had readily agreed, and the two trudged back to the Pokemon center and into their room. Along the way, May had told Brendan about Drew/Solidad/Harley's proposition for the next day. Brendan eventually agreed, although initially, he too was on the same train of doubt as May was about their _more important_ task. ("It'll just be for half a day," May had reasoned. "Maybe it wouldn't be _so _wrong to try to enjoy ourselves for a few hours…")

After the pair conducted their nighttime routine (changing into whatever cheap, free sweats Pokemon centers apparently provided, cleaning their teeth, brushing out hair [with their fingers]), the two found themselves immensely tired and fell into their beds as soon as they were done... which was strange, considering that back home, extracurricular activities and homework would usually push their bedtimes well past 11pm. After a glance at the clock, May realized it was hardly even 10:30.

_Maybe contests are more tiring than they seem…_

And before she could help it, May found herself recollecting the events of the day, namely the contest. And somewhat of the after party.

So she _did_ do unnaturally well. That reporter – Roxanne, right? – had even acknowledged it. Speaking of Roxanne… was May really going to be in a magazine? And judging from Brianna's words earlier, _Coordinator Weekly _seemed to be pretty influential and popular.

Not that May was planning on having time to read stuff like that. There were certainly more pressing matters at hand, weren't there?

More pressing matters that were going to be postponed by a date with Solidad, Harley, and Drew. Yep. She and Brendan _clearly_ put their situation _on priority_ here.

But it wasn't her or Brendan's fault, right? It's not like they had a bucket list of what to do from here on out. It's not like they even had a vague idea of what they were supposed to do. They were utterly in the dark about just about everything.

So in retrospect, what Brendan (who was now softly snoring) said earlier was actually perfectly true. Fate was the only thing left to guide them now - however skeptical May had always been about its existence. She preferred to believe that things _weren't_ always set in stone.

The brunette felt herself beginning to slip into unconsciousness. Her thoughts became heavier, and her heartbeat slowed.

One last thought rang in her head as she eventually, finally succumbed to sleep.

_Fate, huh?  
_

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

More setting up! (seriously, these past few chapters, I was setting up for the set up of chapter 9... and the rest of the story, for that matter. hopefully it turns out well? haha)

Reviews are, as always, so very appreciated. free virtual contest afterparty hors d'oeuvres if you do? :)


	9. The Magazines

For the second time in her sixteen-and-counting years of life, May woke up in room 114 of one of Rustboro City's three Pokemon centers.

Her rousing was induced by the alarm she had set on her phone. Two nights ago, she had reset the time to accustom to the Pokemon world's (or at least Rustboro City's) time zones. Last night, she set the device to go off at 9:30AM the next day.

Right now, it was officially 9:30AM of the next day.

May was actually surprised. Back home, even when she was desperately lacking sleep and had the next morning to sleep in, she never made it past ten hours of sleep. From about 10:30 last night to now, 9:30, that was eleven hours. _And_ she could've gone longer, seeing as her return to consciousness was artificially induced.

The brunette sat up, stretching her arms and legs as she did so. She yawned. Rubbing her eyes, May reached for her phone to turn the ringing off.

"Rise and shine, Brendan."

"…I usually just skip the rising and go straight to the shining," came Brendan's muffled voice from beneath his sheets.

May laughed quietly as she slid off her bed and gained her footing on the carpeted ground.

"Brendan," she chastised gently. "It'd be rude if we show up late."

"I'm always rude," she heard him mutter.

May rolled her eyes. Boys.

"Brendan," she began authoritatively as she crossed the short distance to the side of his bed. For effect (that he couldn't see, since the entirety of his body was wrapped up in blankets and sheets, including his eyes), the brunette placed her hands on her hips.

"Huh?" he muttered.

"I'll pour water on you if you don't get up _right now_…"

In a heartbeat, Brendan immediately whipped off his cocoon of blankets.

"I'm up, okay? I'm up!"

May grinned triumphantly.

"And get a shirt on."

* * *

May and Brendan were on their way to the Pokemon center lobby. It was currently 9:57AM, and the two had tidied up and taken the last of their stuff from their room. After all, they only had their backpacks. In their backpacks were just a few notebooks, folders, personal items, writing utensils, and whatever free stuff the Pokemon center provided that May and Brendan thought would turn out to be useful later.

"So see, the thing is, Magikarp is actually this _really fabulous _Pokemon. I saw this post on Tumblr the other day, and it just provided the soundest case anyone has ever provided in history for the ascension of Magikarp to the most powerful Pokemon of all time…"

"Well, sure, except I didn't _say_ Magikarp wasn't a _really fabulous_ Pokemon. I'm just saying that Feebas is better than Magikarp-"

"Is that what girls do? Like a Pokemon because its evolution happens to be pretty? Let's be honest, Gyarados is _way_ better than Milotic-"

"That's a lie, Brendan, and you know it! Milotic's stats are so much more well-rounded, and its Special Attack is perfect for a moveset with Surf and Ice Beam-"

"Gyarados destroys half of the competitive teams out there! That attack stat-"

"_It's practically knocked out with _any_ electric attack it happens to be fortunate enough to meet_!"

May and Brendan were currently having an incredibly intense argument over Feebas/Milotic vs. Magikarp/Gyarados, just in case someone couldn't tell. The two continued to bicker over the superiority of the two (or four) Water-type Pokemon the entire way there.

"But Feebas is so _ugly_…"

"Haven't you ever heard of the Ugly Duckling? And you're the one who was just complaining about how girls judge on appearances," retorted May.

When they finally arrived in the lobby, Drew, Solidad, and Harley were already there. Harley immediately bounded over to the two.

"Good morning, sweeties!"

"…G-good morning, Harley..."

May's eyes watched Solidad and Drew as they came over to meet them as well, albeit a tad less… _enthusiastically _as Harley had done.

"Morning," said Drew coolly.

"Good morning, Drew," said May lightly.

Smiling, Solidad gently said, "Shall we go?"

* * *

It was a gorgeous day in Rustboro. The air was breezy, the sun was out, and – May estimated – the weather couldn't have been more than 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The group of five was currently making their way away from the Pokemon center.

"So, are you hungry?" asked Solidad to nobody in particular.

"_Yes_!" chirped May.

Drew and Brendan snorted, simultaneously. May rolled her eyes at the coordinated sound. Harley smiled, and Solidad chuckled.

"There's a café here that I've been to a couple of times in the past. It's near the beach," said Solidad. "We'll have to go down to the sea, and then head north."

"Is it far?" asked the chartreuse-haired boy.

"It's nothing _you_ couldn't handle, Drew," laughed Solidad lightly.

May noticed a strange look cross Drew's face. Not strange, necessarily, but an uncommon one that she hadn't seen prior to now. It was difficult to describe… It had been one of humbled pride. Satisfied, even. Perhaps a tinge of amused…

May noted it. She also noticed how the boy had stood up slightly straighter and puffed out his chest a bit more. The girl had always been one to notice little things like that. She fought to keep her lips from twitching upwards.

Brendan seemed to have noticed it too, realized May. Because when Solidad turned her back and began leading the way to the café she claimed to recommend, May saw her friend nudge Drew with his elbow while winking. Drew had seemed slightly irked, yet responded to Brendan with a playful shove away of his own. Neither Solidad nor Harley paid it any heed, as they were now in a private conversation about the next couple of contests as they led the way. Drew and Brendan were now lagging a little ways behind, absorbed in their own conversation.

Deciding it was probably more of a guy's conversation, May decided to stay in that middle space between the boys and Solidad/Harley by herself. The solitude wasn't unwelcome, though – it gave her a chance to pay special attention to the metropolitan scenery around her and time to think about things.

* * *

May had been absentmindedly walking (lost in her own theories about what her phone could maybe do in this world)... until she accidentally ran into a body, who she could've sworn had still been moving before.

"Oof-… sorry, Harley!" she hurriedly apologized.

The man tilted his head to look at her.

"It's alright, ginger cookie!"

May smiled timidly. Was she ever going to get used to that?

"Way to go, klutz," came Drew's voice from behind.

Whirling furiously on the boy, May began threateningly, "Now, _look here..."_

All Drew did was smirk back at her face, which only ignited her anger further. Brendan was the middle ground, stepping in between Drew and May. He chuckled.

"Save it for _after _we eat, or else you'll get us kicked out of the café before we even walk in."

"Huh? Café-"

Then May noticed the well-polished, marble one-story building standing in front of her.

"…Oh. Yay!" she exclaimed gleefully, temporarily putting aside all anger she had for the egotistical green-haired coordinator for the prospect of food. "What're we waiting for?" laughed the girl as she bounded into the café without a second thought, leaving her four companions to roll their eyes and trail in like _civilized_ people after her.

* * *

Solidad had opted for a latte and croissant. Drew chose a simple cup of black coffee. Harley had a muffin. Those three had chosen their orders timely and efficiently.

Brendan, however, had difficulty as he refused to let Solidad/Harley/Drew pay for him, and was waging an inner battle to get something or not as he assumed himself and May to be utterly broke, though he was actually hungry. Assuming the café didn't accept American dollar bills, anyways.

"Brendan, I'll pay for you," said May mildly as she thoroughly stared down the café's displayed menu.

"No, that's okay, I- … wait, what? May, I don't think they take USD here…"

The brunette turned her attention away from the menu and to her friend.

"Of course not," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I have Pokemoney. Or… whatever it is they call their currency here."

Brendan stared at her, surprised."When did you get that?"

May shrugged. "I guess I didn't tell you. The contest officials gave me some prize money for getting top 4 in that contest yesterday. I forgot to tell you. Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.

Brendan shook his head.

"No, it's fine… How much did they give you?"

"Um, I counted, and I think it was something like 5000…? Which seems okay, in total, since a large coffee here is apparently 200… Poke… dollars… money… currency…"

"Right. Well… I guess it's better than asking them," –he jerked a thumb in the direction of Solidad, Drew, and Harley- "for money. I'm not shameless. And I'll pay you back."

May rolled her eyes.

"You don't need to! Think of it as like… thanks for letting me use Mudkip," she said. "Plus I'm probably like, thirty dollars in debt to you from back home, anyways."

She chuckled lightly and scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. Brendan smiled a genuine smile. The sight alone would've made a good number of girls' hormones go insane.

"Okay, then. One latte and muffin, please."

"One latte and muffin, comin' right up," said the brunette as she bounded up to the register, and input her and Brendan's orders.

* * *

"So. Tell me about you guys," said May happily as she munched on a breakfast sandwich.

The group of five was currently sitting at one of the moderately-sized outdoor patio tables. It was a beautiful day, and what better way to make the most of a beach-side restaurant than sitting outside?

Solidad took a sip of her latte before replying, "What do you want to know?"

May pondered the question for a brief second.

"How did you guys meet?"

"How we met, hm…"

"Ooh, let _me_ tell you the story, hon, of how I and Solidad met!" exclaimed Harley excitedly. "Okay, well, when I was little munchkin, I'd go to Kanto to vacation every year with my family. One fabulous year, we went to Pewter City."

He paused a brief moment to quickly exchange knowing smiles with Solidad.

"We were staying with my grandmommy, who lived in Pewter. Solidad's house was next door. One day, my adorable little self was out playing with a cute wild Igglybuff I found. Solidad walked over, and said, 'Can I play too?' Naturally, kind little me said yes. We spent the rest of that fabulous day with each other and the cutie Igglybuff.

"When it was time for me to leave, we were both unbelievably sad. But then my grandmommy said Solidad could come over anytime to use her video calling, and after that, we kept in contact all the way until we could both officially get Pokemon.

"When we turned ten, our first objective was to meet up with each other. We both decided to become coordinators!"

"Since then, we've been traveling together on and off," said Solidad. "After all, who could put up with him for twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year?" The older girl winked at May.

Pouting, Harley whined, "Solidad!"

May nodded.

"There's definitely no way I could put up with Brendan with 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," she said seriously with the straightest face she could keep.

Brendan frowned.

"I'm offended, May."

"So. How did you and Drew meet?" pressed May, ignoring Brendan's sarcasm.

Drew was quiet as he watched Solidad, clearly expecting her to tell the story. His finger lightly traced the lid of his coffee.

"Can I, Drew?" said Solidad softly.

The boy shrugged.

"Sure," he said nonchalantly.

"Alright, well… It was… maybe four years ago? I was sixteen, so Drew was probably twelve or thirteen. I was doing a contest in a city here, in Hoenn, and by then, I'd been coordinating for a while already.

"It was a pretty big contest. Drew and I both passed the appeals, but we didn't really know each other, yet. He ended up being my second round opponent. I remembered reading his name in magazines, so I knew he was the child prodigy the coordinating world had been so caught up with lately.

"It was a really good battle, but I won in the end. He probably would've made it to the final round if we weren't matched so early. I went on to win the entire contest, but Drew was arguably my hardest battle in the whole thing.

"During the after party, I went outside to get some fresh air. I saw Drew against the side of the building, curled up in a ball. I went over to him, and I said, 'Are you alright?' He gave me a dark look, said, 'Go away,' but I wasn't going to. After all, he had tears on his face."

At this, May gaped. So did Brendan. Even Harley seemed slightly surprised. Drew was trying hard not to blush. Solidad seemed pleased with the reactions to her story. The girl chuckled.

"Exactly. The child prodigy who was famous for being mature beyond his years - and I caught him crying in an alley. I asked, 'Are you crying because you lost against me today?' Then he said something I'll never forget for as long as I know him. He said, 'No… it's because I'm still not good enough'."

At this, Solidad and the boy exchanged looks. An expression of sympathy was on the girl's face, despite the fact that this story had happened years ago. On the other hand, Drew's face was officially blushing.

"Awww," crooned May. "Drew…"

"Awww," echoed Brendan. "…Embarrassed?"

"Shut up," muttered Drew.

"After that, I stayed out there with him. We talked and I comforted him until he stopped crying. It was then that I realized, no matter how unnaturally talented and mature the articles made him out to be, that Drew was just a 12-year-old with incredibly high expectations of himself."

Here, Solidad chuckled.

"One thing I _distinctly_ remember was the fact that it was a really nice night out – there weren't even any clouds. So I told him, 'See that moon, Drew? Shoot for it. Because even if you miss, you'll still land amongst the stars.' "

May had been paying attention before, but as Solidad said this, the brunette immediately perked up. Wordlessly, her curious eyes quickly found Drew's panicked ones. If eyes could talk, his were practically begging, _No. Don't say it…_ which was interesting – after all, Drew? Begging? A small, knowing smile took over May's lips as she realized what this very likely indicated. To communicate to him that his secret was safe was her, she gave a small, only vaguely noticeable nod.

Drew's expression was still a bit wary, but he was visibly more relaxed. Solidad continued, paying no heed to May and Drew's quick and subtle exchange. Neither Harley nor Brendan noted it, either.

"After that, we ran into each other every now and then. He and his Pokemon practically grew up right in front of my eyes," laughed Solidad. "It's only a matter of time before he wins Grand Festivals."

Drew's lips curled into something in between a genuine smile and a smirk.

"Thanks, Sol."

Solidad smiled back.

"It's true."

"Ohhh, Drewy-kins! That was _almost_ as good as how Solidad and I met!" gushed Harley.

Drew rolled his eyes, yet a half-smile creeped onto his lips anyways.

"Speaking of contests…" began Solidad as she began searching through her bag for something. "Look what I found, May," she said, as she tossed two magazines onto the table.

May reached for the items. She immediately recognized one of the names.

"_Coordinator Weekly_," she read, surprised.

"Page twenty-one."

The brunette quickly flipped to the page Solidad told her to. A feature article spanned the entirety of pages twenty-one and twenty-two. " 'Solidad Saori Yet Again Wins Huge Contest… Old And New Names Join To Give a Performance Worth Watching At Rustboro Hall,'" she read.

"Start from the second paragraph," instructed Solidad.

May complied, "Although there were plenty of familiar faces – namely our Queen of Kanto and Prince of Hoenn – there were also quite a few new ones. One, in particular, was revealed to be May Maple – a potential starlet who's been hiding from us this whole time.

"The 15-year-old girl easily swept through the appeals with a rarely-seen Eevee. She defeated her first-round opponent, Brianna Wakana (a seasoned coordinator who's very nearly Grand Festival-level), with a Mudkip and Beautifly. She also defeated her second-round opponent, Ryder Everstone, who placed in the top thirty-two at the Johto Grand Festival last season. Her streak only came to an end when she faced Solidad Saori - the contest favorite and last season's Kanto Grand Festival champion, in addition to others - but not before giving the Queen a good run for her money and culminating the battle in a four-way knockout. I found her at the after party for a quick interview, which can be found verbatim to the side.

"In the coordinating world, Robert of Silver Rock Isle is king. Solidad of Pewter City is queen. Drew, from LaRousse City, is prince. Could May Maple, from Petalburg City, be our long-awaited princess?"

May flushed upon reading the last sentence.

"'Princess'…"

Solidad and Harley laughed. Even Drew had to smirk at that. Brendan chuckled.

"Wow. Too bad you won't be able to stay aroun-" He immediately cut himself off as he realized how suspicious the rest of his sentence would've sounded.

It was a bit too late for that, though. Drew accusingly stared at Brendan, then May.

"Why won't you be around?" he demanded.

May and Brendan exchanged wary looks. In that one moment and look, the two of them wordlessly decided that maybe it was finally time to tell someone in this world. Out of anyone it could be, perhaps Solidad, Drew, and Harley would make the better confidantes. The brunette sighed. She was quiet for a brief moment as she struggled to find the right words to represent their story.

"Well…" she began. "The truth is, Brendan and I aren't really from around here."

"Well, that's not groundbreaking. I mean, there _are _other regions aside from Hoenn…" said Drew a tad sarcastically.

It wasn't really meant to be, but it seeped through, anyways. May glared at Drew.

"_No_. I mean… as in we're not from this world."

Harley gasped, "You're aliens?! But you're such cute munchkins too…"

"No! I mean… maybe. That'd depend on your definition of 'aliens'. Sometimes it could just mean a foreigner-" began Brendan.

May cut him off.

"No, we're definitely human," she insisted. "Like you."

Solidad was interested and shocked, yet a much better listener than her two male traveling companions.

"Go on, May," she said softly.

May took a deep breath. "Okay, well… Brendan and I are from another dimension. Where we're from… it's pretty similar to this world, except there aren't Pokemon. Well, there _is_ Pokemon, but…"

"…It's in video games," finished Brendan. "And trading cards. They're not real, like here."

"Yeah," said May. "And _everything's_ different, as far as social systems and stuff. Brendan and I go to school called West Riverwater, to learn subjects and classes, and it's where we met. It's also where we met our friends.

"A couple of days ago, we were in our regular spot where we usually hang out – it's… kind of like a mini caboose. Then, a gem that decorated the ceiling started glowing-"

"-Seriously, it turned colors and it was _never _like that before-"

"-and a really strong wind started. We were sucked into this portal, I think, along with three of our friends… The next thing I knew, I was on the outskirts of Petalburg City. The gym leader of Petalburg gave me Eevee, and a professor gave Brendan his Mudkip. Luckily, we found each other on the first day because he ran from Littleroot to catch up to me. Then we just... walked from there to here, Rustboro. It was a pretty straightforward road, after all. But since then, we haven't been able to find any of our other friends… not yet."

Drew, Solidad, and Harley listened to their story with interest. May observed the slightly skeptic looks on their faces.

"You don't believe us," she said flatly.

"Your story _is _a bit far-fetched," Drew deadpanned.

"Oh, munchkin, don't worry about it," insisted Harley. "Cray-cray things happen _all _the time here! We just... weren't expecting that you... well..."

Her voice soft, Solidad spoke up, "So what are you going to do?"

Brendan frowned, and then shrugged.

"Find them again. And get some answers, somehow."

"Oh, muffins. You've been through all that..."

"It's been nothing, Harley," insisted May. "We're alright."

But still, some part of her – some small corner of her heart – was glad that somebody had somewhat acknowledged the difficulty of everything they'd been through in the past couple of days.

"What're you going to do next?" asked Drew.

May looked at the boy. His eyes were actually of genuine concern, though the rest of his face showed passiveness.

"I… I'm not sure."

"Wait, May…" started Solidad, who had reached for the other of the two magazines and quickly begun flipping through it. Eventually, she stopped at a certain page and passed the magazine to the brunette.

"What is it?" asked May, scanning the page.

She could quickly tell it was an article about promising new trainers/coordinators whose performances had been observed in the past couple of days. She immediately found her own name. Then, right next to it, she found another name that made her breath hitch in her throat and – she could've sworn – made her heart skip a beat in excitement.

… Ash Ketchum.

The boy who apparently had an astonishing defeat over Misty Waterflower, Cerulean City's strongest gym leader, and was arguably one of the strongest leaders in all of Kanto. Brendan was peering at the magazine as well. His face soon fell into a gape that mirrored May's.

Solidad took the two teenagers' mute shock as confirmation.

"I remembered reading about a trainer whose talents, I thought, were as abrupt and good as yours, May. It was a..._very_ wild guess, but apparently, I wasn't too far off the mark."

May didn't respond as she hurriedly raced through the rest of the paragraph about her raven-haired friend. 16… "Around Pallet Town"… only started battling _very _recently… And yet, the most important thing was probably the lack of other things. The amount of information was incredibly vague, compared to the two other stranger trainers featured in the same article.

… Scratch that, vagueness was the _second_ most important thing.

" 'His next move is to go down south. With a laugh, Ketchum told us he had some urgent interregional business to accomplish before he'd win any more gym badges. We'll take a wild guess to suppose he's heading to Vermillion City, the city in Kanto with the most international ship routes and ports. There also happens to be a gym there – we'll see if Ketchum won't be able to resist challenging Lieutenant Surge.'," read May in a whisper.

She looked up and exchanged a knowing, shocked, and surprised look with Brendan.

"Vermillion," he muttered. "We have to catch him. As soon as possible." Brendan turned to look at Drew, Solidad, and Harley, who were on the other side of the table. "When was this published?" he demanded.

"We just received it today, and since it has information about the contest that just happened yesterday, I'd say early this morning," replied Solidad, her eyes becoming serious. "Are you going to Vermillion?"

"I don't know. May, are we?" asked Brendan, a tinge of lightheartedness coloring his tone.

"Without a doubt," said May immediately. "Is there a port here?"

"Yes, hon," said Harley. "You're in luck. I once rode a high-speed ship from here straight to Vermillion."

"Brendan, we have to go," muttered May urgently.

"We'll come with you," said Drew. He looked at Solidad and Harley expectantly, awaiting their full confirmation. When he saw that the two were - in fact - a bit hesitant, he continued exasperatedly, "Didn't we read about a contest in Saffron City in a few days? We have to head north for Sinnoh eventually, anyways."

"You have a point, Drew… But it's not what we initially agreed on…"

"Oh, let's just go with gingerbread cookie and marshmallow, Solidad."

"Harley..."

"No, it's okay! You guys don't have to come…" began May hesitantly.

A wave of silence fell over the group. Eventually, Solidad sighed, giving in to her two traveling partners' urging.

"We'll go to Vermillion with you."

* * *

May leaned nervously against the railing of the large ship, the stub of the approved ticket clutched in her hand. Only half an hour ago, they had been at the beachside café enjoying each others' stories and eating breakfast. In that half hour, they had left the café, briskly made their way to the pier, purchased boat tickets to Vermillion City, Kanto, boarded the ship, and were now waiting for it to leave.

Along the way, amidst the crowd of people, she had lost track of Harley, Solidad, and Brendan. The only person who was left was Drew, and the two had tried their best to stay together in a futile search for the rest of the group. Eventually, the pair had given up, and simply resorted to leaning against the safety railing that ran around the top deck of the ship. This side was facing the sea, so that meant that they were at the head of the ship.

May's arms were wrapped around the thin metal railing in an "M" sort of formation so that the rest of her weight was supported. Her body faced the endless water. Next to her, Drew was casually facing the other way in the direction to the back of the ship. His lower back leaned against the railing, his hands were in his pant pockets, and his right leg was bent slightly as his weight was on his left.

For a long while, the two stood in silence. Every now and then, May would smile amusedly and Drew would smirk softly when they heard the occasional person remark to their friends something along the lines of, "Isn't that Drew, the coordinating Prince?" "He's _so_ cute!" "I saw her at the Rustboro contest! She beat Ryder Everstone!" "That girl's so pretty!" "Look, look, don't those two make a _really _cute couple?"

"Speaking of gossip…" began May as a particularly giggly group of girls had finally passed by (but not before one of them loudly proclaimed, "Drew! I love you!" and ran away blushing).

"Huh?"

Deciding to be blunt, she said, "You like Solidad, don't you."

It was more of an accusing statement than a question.

The two hadn't moved a muscle to bother to accommodate to a more conversational position, so they were still facing opposite directions. Therefore, May didn't see that Drew had immediately flushed a light red.

"No…" he began slowly.

Even though she couldn't see the dead giveaway that had chosen to bloom over Drew's face, May could still tell from his obviously flustered tone.

"You do," she said smugly.

Then, while still looking out over the water, she smirked. Drew scowled. His arms were now crossed in front of his chest.

"If you say _anything_…"

May grinned, straightened herself up, and faced Drew.

"Promise!"

The boy gazed back at her warily, a frown reflecting his frustration. He sighed.

"I shouldn't have told you about the moon thing…" he muttered under his breath.

"_I'm _glad you did! You're surprisingly really sensitive… It's cute," crooned May.

At this, Drew had blushed a slight bit harder. Of course, May hadn't noticed, because now she was just gazing at something beyond the horizon as she rambled.

"Because y'know, once you read all the books and watch the movies where the guy's all popular and stuff and he charms the girl with his Prince Charming ways, it's just not fun after the first twenty billion clichés. If _you_ were a character in a work of fiction, it'd be so fun to portray you, because you're actually kind of sensitive and you're subtle about trying to flirt with the girl you like and that's pretty different from most of the guys that've been done before. Well, I guess the truth is most of the cliché guys don't ever develop much personality because they're just sidelines in chick flicks, but-"

"… I hope you know I stopped listening a long time ago, May."

"Okay, let me just start all over again so I can get it into your thick head-"

"That won't be necessary, I don't think you even have the number of brain cells required to remember what you just said…"

"_DREW_!"

The two continued to bicker like that for a while. So intensely, in fact, that neither of them even noticed that the ship had begun moving until ten minutes after it did. May then suddenly remarked (in the middle of a comeback) that the ship was, in fact, moving, which caused Drew to make a sarcastic comment about her being Captain Obvious. Which, of course, relapsed into another session of arguing.

Out of the four hours it would take to make the aquatic trip from Rustboro City of Hoenn to Vermillion City in Kanto, the teenage pair spent a good 1 ½ of it bickering like they did… which is interestingly surprising, considering only a handful of people can proudly and honestly say they've argued with someone for an hour and a half straight.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

FINALLY, some plot progress! Hallelujah!

And, as always, reviews are so very much appreciated. so much. :)

-Apheleia


	10. The Boardwalk

The soft, sweet sunshine shone across the sky and reflected off of the body of water the large ship was currently traveling over.

The ship to Vermillion City, Kanto, had crossed the Kanto-Hoenn border about an hour ago, and was now comfortably traveling east through a sizable channel of water.

Sometime after she finally gave up arguing with the _utterly incompetent grassbrain_, the blue-eyed, brunette teenager had found a corner on the sun deck that was away from most of the chatty noise of the rest of the ship. The only sound that could be heard were the gentle splashes of the water below as the craft drove through it.

The wooden flooring was slightly wet from spray, yet she had decided to plop down on the ground anyways. With her headphones stuck in her ears, the girl alternated back and forth between light slumber and drowsy consciousness. Her phone was held loosely in her left hand as the device played through a playlist titled "Soft Songs".

She was halfway through a particularly mellow song about romance (and also very nearly asleep again) when she felt someone ruffle the top of her bandanna and take a seat next to her. The girl turned to look at the newcomer. Her surprise was quickly abolished upon his identification. She smiled softly.

"Hi, Brendan."

"Hey," he replied simply. "Wondered where you went off to."

"Right here," she said, burying her head into her arms. "Always been right here."

"Was there a double meaning to that? Or am I just imagining things?"

"I don't know," muttered May tiredly. "Are we imagining the Pokemon too?"

Brendan laughed softly.

"Good point."

A period of silence ensued, the only sound being the crashing water beneath. Then Brendan spoke again.

"Do you think Ash is going to be in Vermillion, like that magazine said?"

May raised her head from the comfort of her arms, and turned to look at Brendan. She smiled encouragingly.

"We can hope. As for now…"

And with that, the brunette closed her eyes and leaned blindly to her right, where Brendan was. Eventually, May found the familiar shoulder that she'd fallen asleep on all too many times during lunch. The girl sighed contentedly one more time before, in a single heartbeat, falling asleep.

The boy, on the other hand, had a short while before his heart stopped abnormally racing. Eventually, though, he fell drowsy as well, despite it being the high of the afternoon. His head gently lolled left – tilted slightly so that it comfortably rested on the side of the girl's head - and he was out as well.

* * *

Vermillion City is a town in southeastern Kanto. It serves as one of the eight cities of Kanto that harbor gyms, and at the time, its particular leader is Lieutenant Surge. The difference between Vermillion's aquatic ports and the rest of the city were primarily separated by height. At the time of the city's construction, for safety, the town had been built atop an artificially elevated area. That way, should the water level ever rise unnaturally high, the rest of the city would still be relatively safe. With Vermillion Harbor as arguably the largest aquatic port in Kanto, Vermillion City is generally a center of trade, tourists, and trainers.

It's also where May and Brendan hoped to find their raven-haired friend.

At some point, the said pair had been startled awake by the blaring noise of the ship's horn, which had been followed up with an announcement that declared the ship's arrival in Vermillion City. It had also bid its passengers a "Thank you and please ride with us again".

Once back on firm ground, May and Brendan sought out Drew, Harley, and Solidad, who were patiently waiting by a lamppost on the dock for the two.

"What took so long?" said Drew, a tinge disdainfully. The group began heading in the direction of the exit, which was signified by a sign labeled "Exit" with an arrow.

"Oh, ah… We fell asleep," said May sheepishly. "Then we were late in getting off…"

"You fell asleep," echoed Drew sarcastically. "How smart of you, May."

May felt her anger begin to flare, as it always did (to some degree) whenever she was near this _rude, incompetent, spinach brain._

"Y'know, Drew! You wouldn't believe what I would give, just to… to…"

"Stare at me all day long? Don't worry, you're legally _allowed_ to…"

May fumed in frustration. Brendan laughed. Solidad and Harley rolled their eyes.

"No," retorted May hotly. "You wouldn't believe what I would _give_ just to… to… punch you in the face… or something!"

Drew smirked.

"Really? If you ruin my face, how will my thousands of fans survive on a day-to-day basis?"

May snorted and crossed her arms angrily.

"What fans?"

"Those who have pledged allegiance to the Coordinating Prince of Hoenn, obviously."

To Brendan, who was walking next to her, May muttered, "I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Drew," said Solidad. "Be nice," she scolded gently.

May grinned smugly, knowing that the boy wouldn't _not_ listen to the older girl. Drew scowled from Solidad's repressive statement. His frown deepened at the satisfied expression on May's face when he looked back at her. They were almost off the wooden pier, and back onto solid land. As they were all still walking, May stepped closer to Drew, got up on the balls of her feet, inched her mouth close to Drew's ear, and cupped her hands around the lower part of her face and his ear as if she were telling him a secret.

"Hah," she whispered triumphantly.

* * *

As the brunette then proceeded to lower herself down from him, Drew found himself reeling in slight shock. He found his eyes watching her as she bounded back next to Brendan's side. Not long after, she was laughing with him about something.

Silently, Drew's left hand reached up to where May's breath had slightly tickled his neck. Quickly realizing that lingering with the particular action might come off as a bit suspicious and/or implying to Solidad and Harley (who were next to/behind him), the teenager quickly flicked the lime locks of hair nearby and then calmly set his hand back down to his side. Behind him, he heard Solidad and Harley fall into a conversation of their own.

His emerald eyes scrutinized the skinny backside of the girl who had just mocked him. It wasn't so much as the actual action as the meaning behind it. The meaning, which came back to the fact that the girl knew one of his most sincere, _embarrassing _secrets he ever kept.

There was also the fact that she had gotten up on her toes to get closer to his face and _not_ aimed to kiss him – which was something that was actually new in itself. Most girls who got up on their toes to get closer to his face were aiming for contact with their lips to his skin.

But, evidently, she wasn't most girls. Heck, she wasn't even from this dimension.

In that moment, a tiny seed was sowed.

He didn't know it, though.

* * *

"So. Where do we start?" said Solidad.

The group was now officially in Vermillion City, a moderately-sized metropolis that seemed to harbor, at the very least, all the essential buildings and attractions.

"Well… Knowing Ash…" began May.

"Food," said Brendan quickly.

May frowned.

"Brendan, I think even _Ash _would put food aside for a moment if he knows he's in as… _dire _of a situation as this."

"We don't know if your friend's even in Vermillion," pointed out Drew. Then, with his hands in his pockets, he shrugged. "You might as well wander the city and hope to get lucky."

May was about to argue back with him, until she realized that he was right.

... In that very moment, May Maple officially decided that she hated it when Drew was right. The brunette sighed.

"Also," continued Drew. "The three of us" – he gestured to himself, Solidad, and Harley – "have to leave Vermillion by late afternoon today, if we want to make it to the contest in Saffron on time."

Solidad lifted an eyebrow.

"Really? What time is it right now?"

"I did the calculations, Sol. We've got three hours," replied Drew coolly.

"That's okay," said May hurriedly, holding out her palms as she did so. "We couldn't really ask you guys to do anything more for us."

The three seasoned coordinators exchanged rueful looks.

"Aw, hon," complained Harley. "Now you're just making us feel guilty!"

"Then we should take full advantage of your presences while you're still here, shouldn't we?" said Brendan. "Let's search what we can of the city, first. When you guys need to leave, you'll leave. May and I can take care of ourselves."

Drew snorted, and muttered snidely, "I wouldn't trust Miss Klutz here with taking care of herself, she might end up setting herself on fire…"

May decided to ignore that.

"Let's go," she said authoritatively, although the effect was ruined when she spun around and nearly tripped over her own feet.

* * *

They started with Vermillion City's rather large PokeMart, the closest thing the city had to a shopping mall. It was actually nothing like most of the Marts that were portrayed in the games, noted May and Brendan aloud. Their other three companions were all - to _some_ degree - fascinated by this piece of information – after all, it's not everyday you find out that your world is actually part of a fictional franchise in another dimension.

But, they didn't find any raven-haired teenager reminiscent of Ash Ketchum in there, nor any other familiar faces. However, they weren't exactly given sufficient time to thoroughly search the place, as a group of fans had _found_ Drew and Solidad, to put it discretely. ("Why do they never chase _me_?" Harley had complained. "I mean, really, no offense, but my hair is _so _much better than Drewy's! I even wash it with a special conditioner!")

* * *

Next, they checked the Pokemon center. There was still no sign of Ash, nor June or Dawn. With the lack of large events going on in or near Vermillion City, May and Brendan had assumed it wasn't necessary to rent a room yet at that particular point in time. It was established that Drew, Harley, and Solidad weren't staying around for the night, anyways. They briefly searched the better part of the Pokemon center and left rather soon (as they assumed that Ash wouldn't have bothered much for recuperation), but not before stealing a few quick bites of food from the cafeteria.

* * *

Although they sincerely doubted Ash was going to be there, the group stopped by the Pokemon Fan Club building anyways. After all, it was relatively close to the Pokemon center, and it was only meant to be a quick pop-in-pop-out kind of thing – just double-checking, and all. However, they soon found themselves graciously ushered in (even despite their polite reluctance) by the Fan Club Chairman, who soon began rambling about his two favorite Pokemon. In short, it had been 20 minutes of awkward coughing and impatience by the young adolescents, and 20 minutes of enthusiastic gushing by the older Chairman.

* * *

At this point, the sun was beginning to make its way down the sky, and the sky was already being painted faint shades of orange and red. Banking on one last shot, the group made their way to the Vermillion City Gym. After a quick conversation with Lieutenant Surge, they learned that there had indeed been no sign of a teenager with jet-black hair as a challenger that day. The man had been sympathetic and wished them a "Good luck in finding your friend". May and Brendan had trudged away from the gym, their heads held in disappointment. Drew, Solidad, and Harley followed them, but not before thanking the war veteran anyways.

As Lieutenant Surge watched the group leave, he recalled his military times. This was so, because the younger girl and the white-capped boy had struck some sort of chord with him. Although he hadn't questioned further, Lieutenant Surge had concluded that those two had somehow been separated from their friend for a while. Even though it was probably on lower stakes than his own personal experience, the lieutenant knew that a situation like _that_ was never _not_ heartbreaking.

On one particular ground mission, he had lost one of his buddies. To guns, to enemies, to nature – whichever one had claimed the guy's life, they never found out. His buddy's body had never been recovered. A funeral service was later provided, and at least his buddy had died in honor. Still, to this day, to that very moment – the lieutenant had never forgotten him, nor the hours that he had spent going back and searching furiously, _desperately_ for his friend. He still remembered that intense helplessness, the nearly overwhelming adrenaline, the constant worries, the situations he had been hypothesizing, those potential scenarios that always resulted in something having gone terribly, fatally wrong…

The buff, blonde man shook his head. That had been a decade ago. It was time to move on. As he turned to head back into the comfort of his own gym, he gave the retreating group of kids one last glance. For them, he hoped to Mew that they would find their acquaintance again, and that their situation wouldn't end up like how his had.

* * *

The group of five headed down the stone path away from the Vermillion Gym. May and Brendan were equal shades of solemn – Drew, Harley, and Solidad were equivalent shades of sympathetic.

"It's almost six," murmured Solidad.

May's eyes flickered. She stopped walking and turned to face the group of three coordinators behind her. "We'll walk you to the port," she said, with a sigh. She then began heading for the pier area, with Brendan next to her side. Drew, Harley, and Solidad followed behind quietly, none of them knowing quite what to say.

By now, the sun was already fairly low, and almost to the point where it would start disappearing beneath the horizon. The sky was streaked fabulously with an entire palette of warm colors. Shades of vibrant crimson and mellow yellow stretched as far as the eye could see. Also partly because Vermillion City was by the water, its sunsets had been officially recognized as one of the most romantic, uplifting views in all of Kanto. The town's slogan was even "the port of exquisite sunsets".

May and Brendan, however, were not particularly in the mood for pretty scenery.

The group walked to the southern end of the city in silence. May and Brendan, dejected from having their hopes raised from the expectations of perhaps finding Ash. Drew, Solidad, and Harley, disappointed that they hadn't been able to help May and Brendan successfully find Ash.

They made their way down to the seaside boardwalk whose northern end eventually merged into Route 6. May recognized the steep set of stone stairs they had gruelingly climbed earlier that day after they disembarked the ship. On the boardwalk, running alongside the side closest to the ocean, was a relatively short, concrete safety wall with cautionary metal railing.

"Well, I guess it ends here," said Brendan as they stepped onto the wooden structure.

He and May stood next to each other. The other three stood opposite to and facing them.

"I'm sorry we didn't find Ash," said Solidad.

Her facial expression was that of genuine pity, and her eyes were contorted with sympathy.

"It was our fault for getting overly excited," replied May. Right now, for some reason, she was fighting off tears. She wasn't sure why, but the disappointment of their failure just hit her like a truck. "Thanks for having come with us, though. It meant a lot."

Brendan watched May sadly. It killed him inside to not see her as the happy, joyful ball of sunshine she usually was. He was upset about not finding Ash, yeah, but May's reaction to it upset him even more.

"Everything'll be okay in the end, cookie," soothed Harley.

May smiled a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Thanks, Harley."

"Good luck with your contest, you guys," said Brendan.

"Thank you," said Solidad softly.

"Good luck with your answers," said Drew in the passive voice he always used, although in that particular sentence, there was definitely more solemnity than usual.

Wordlessly, May recognized this slight change from his customary tone. Her azure eyes flashed from the absentminded watching of the ground to the meeting of his malachite eyes. What she found was not mocking, or cocky, or anything she usually found Drew to have been in the past few days that she had known him. As her gaze met his, she found that, similarly (but not exactly) to Solidad's, his eyes held genuine, smoldering sympathy.

Somehow, she realized, the fact that Drew cared lifted her spirits a tad. Yes, Solidad and Harley were evidently wholeheartedly supportive and pitying. But for some reason, it was different when it was Drew expressing the said emotions, however subtle and potentially unnoticeable his way of conveying it may have been. Perhaps it was because he was _usually_ so cold and rude?

"…Thank you, Drew," she said softly. Then she smiled gently - a genuine, real smile that, this time, actually halfway met her eyes. Winking, she murmured, "And good luck with… you know."

As her implication sunk in, a light shade of pink bloomed across Drew's face. He scowled, and averted his gaze from May.

"Maybe we'll meet again," said Brendan.

"Hopefully, by then, you guys will have more ribbons and we'll be a couple of steps closer to figuring all this out," giggled May lightly.

"Definitely," said Solidad. "And if we don't meet again, we'll assume you're back in your original world. And you can assume all three of us qualified for the Grandiose Festival."

Brendan chuckled.

"We will."

"Ohhh, one last round of hugs before we leave!" exclaimed Harley merrily.

And with that, he quickly reached for Brendan and engulfed him in a jolly embrace. May and Solidad laughed at the sight, and particularly at Brendan (who, according to him, apparently couldn't breathe). Drew smirked. Once Harley let Brendan go, he then immediately pounced on both Solidad and May, hugging them simultaneously just as eagerly. May and Solidad reciprocated the action, still chuckling. As they did so, Brendan made his way over to Drew.

"Hey, thanks for everything," he said, sticking out a hand that the harlequin-haired boy accepted.

Soon after, May, Solidad, and Harley broke apart. A moment later, so did Brendan and Drew.

The other three watched as, with a modest grin, May shuffled over to Drew. She reached out, wrapped her arms around his torso, and was happy when she felt him reciprocate the action a second later.

* * *

Honestly, Drew couldn't remember the last time he had willingly hugged someone of the opposite sex. Maybe his mom, when he had returned home for a bit a while ago? Alright then, he couldn't remember the last time he had willingly hugged a girl of _about his own age_. Not even Solidad - just because he simply wasn't the type to ever do so.

Therefore, his reciprocation to May's farewell embrace was a bit late. Late, because the situation was a bit unfamiliar. Late, because it took him by surprise a bit. Late, (sort of) because ever since they met, he and the girl he was being hugged by had hardly ever had a conversation that didn't eventually result in/include arguing. When he did eventually respond, though, he became a bit surprised by something else.

Did all girls fit so well with his body like… _this_ particular hotheaded, stubborn, clumsy brunette? The hugs he had given to the small few of his overenthusiastic female fans in the past were, yeah, pretty much _forced_ by the politer Prince Charming in him, and so that may have contributed to the reason as to why those particular embraces were always so awkward for him, but…

May, for him, was just the right height for the stereotypical boy-girl height ratio. She was probably about three or four inches shorter than him, and therefore, if he tilted his head, he could rest his chin atop her hair (like some of the sappy scenes in those romance movies, although really, Drew was _not _about to do that). The gentle curves of her thin body conformed well to his, and nothing was awkward or uncomfortable, probably even if they had hugged each other closer. Plus-

_... No_, he told himself abruptly. _What are you even-? You know Solidad? The one you've liked for _years_ now? _Arceus_, you're a piece of __work, Drew…_

And that's all it took. All those realizations and thoughts occurred to the chartreuse-haired boy in a matter of a few short moments. As soon as the last one hit him, Drew immediately (but still in a controlled and non-suspicious way) dropped his arms and ended the hug.

"Well, that's all then," said May. "You guys should get going."

Harley, Solidad, and Drew began walking away from May and Brendan.

"Let's meet again, munchkins!" said Harley.

"See you later!" called Brendan.

"Bye, Solidad!" said May.

"Take care, you two!"

"Bye, Drew!"

He didn't turn around, but Drew responded with a two-fingered salute.

* * *

May and Brendan watched the trio walk away from them. With each passing moment, their figures became smaller and smaller in the distance.

"You know, I liked them," reflected May. "I wouldn't mind if we met them again, somewhere."

Brendan was silent.

"Solidad's so nice, and Harley's… interesting… and Drew's actually not that bad, once you get to know him. Right, Brendan?"

He had no response, but his expression was shocked. His eyes were watching something in the direction of the docks. May's eyes flickered from the shrinking backsides of the three coordinators to her friend's face.

"Brendan? What're you looking-" began May, but abruptly cut herself off as she followed his gaze.

There, walking towards the docks, was a girl with fiery orange hair, some kind of bright yellow vest that stopped halfway down her torso, matching shorts, red undershirt, and from their position, what seemed to be orange Converse of sorts. She was walking next to, and talking with, a boy.

Not just any boy.

A boy with slightly tousled, jet black hair, baseball cap, and familiar viridian backpack, jeans, jacket… May's breath caught in her throat. Her heart rate picked up.

For a moment, May couldn't say anything, as what she was seeing registered in her mind. She probably might not have for a while, until the realization hit her that the boy and the girl were going to get farther away with each passing moment and may even board a ship if they weren't stopped soon. May swallowed the saliva that had collected in her mouth, lubricating her throat so that she could proceed to shout what she was about to shout as loudly as she could.

"_ASH_!"

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

I feel like there was too much Contestshipping in this chapter for this point in the story...  
...loljk what am I talking about, you can never have too much contestshipping :')

... nonetheless, thanks for reading :) and, as always, reviews are forever so appreciated.

P.S. did anyone else find the anime portrayal of Lieutenant Surge.. creepy? I mean, really, the HG/SS redraw of him is so much better... and *that's* the image of him I had as I wrote the scene with him. Anime version Lieutenant Surge is just... ack


	11. The Gym Leader

"_ASH!"_

May held her breath as the figures stopped walking, and began turning around. She didn't take her eyes off of the one with the hat and familiar clothes.

The boy's mouth silently fell into a small "o" as his chocolate eyes found May and the boy next to her. The unfamiliar girl next to him had also stopped walking, and curiously looked back at the source of the shout.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then, finally, it completely registered.

And May went sprinting to the steep set of stairs, Brendan following close behind. She tried to push the rate at which she was descending the steps, yet made sure to not go too fast so as to trip and get a concussion or something, because it seemed like something she'd do right now.

On his part, Ash was also making his way over to the bottom of the stairs at a quick pace. The girl he was being accompanied by was following him, but at a slower, more controlled jog.

As she neared the bottom few steps of the staircase, May excitedly cried, "Ash!"

_Oh, forget it_, she thought, and promptly jumped the last five concrete steps, landing safely on the sand-covered ground.

"May! Brendan!" exclaimed Ash as he was quickly engulfed in a furious hug by the laughing brunette.

Over her shoulder, Ash grinned happily as his best friend beamed at the sight of two of his friends reunited. Brendan advanced on the two and promptly embraced them, and thus May was being promptly squished in-between the two males.

By a peek over Ash's arm, May caught a detailed glimpse of his female companion. She was rather pretty, really – her face was well-proportioned for raw beauty. Her unusually-colored hair was tied up in a side ponytail, and her outfit suited her well. She seemed to wearing a red knapsack. In her arms, she clutched a small, blue Pokemon which May recognized as an Azurill.

"God," chuckled Brendan as the friends broke apart. "We _found_ you. We found him, May!"

"You really were in Vermillion!" said May, breathless from the sprint and excitement.

Ash grinned.

"How did you guys know? How did… where were you? What happened? To you?"

"Let's discuss that later – over food, maybe? There's too much to talk about," said Brendan.

May and Ash's eyes immediately lit up at the mention of food.

"Definitely!"

"So I guess these are some of the friends you've been looking for, Ash?" laughed Ash's companion in a light voice that reminded May of bells.

Ash scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah. Mist, these are my friends, May" – he pointed to the brunette, who was waving and beaming at the new girl – "and Brendan," he said as he gestured to the boy, who was shooting the girl a friendly grin. "Guys, this is Misty."

"It's my pleasure to meet you, Misty!" said May cheerily.

Misty smiled at the bubbly girl.

"Me too!"

"Have you been keeping Ash in line? He always needs someone to be watching him," teased Brendan lightly as Ash scowled.

"He's a handful, but I've managed," laughed Misty lightly.

"What're you guys talking about…" muttered Ash, pouting slightly.

"Aw, Ash, we're kidding," chuckled Brendan as he affectionately placed an arm over Ash's shoulders. "… Sort of."

"Brendan, stop being a hypocrite," said May. "You're pretty bad, too."

"Yeah," – he winked – "but in a good way, right?"

"No," May deadpanned.

Brendan frowned. With the taller boy's arm still slung over his shoulders, Ash poked Brendan in the cheek mockingly.

"Hah."

Misty and May rolled their eyes.

"Boys," they said in unison.

Then they exchanged looks, and laughed. Ash and Brendan grinned at the two girls, who were evidently already getting along.

"Hey, were you guys planning to get on a ship?" asked Brendan abruptly.

"Yeah," replied Misty. "Because we saw an article that said May had been in the Rustboro Contest in Hoenn. And so we figured…"

"We figured we'd try to get down there," finished Ash. "But I guess you guys found us first."

"Actually, I think we read that exact same article," mused Brendan. "The one where you said you were going down south to take care of some business somewhere?"

"I think it was probably the same one," said Ash. "And-"

They never quite figured out what else Ash was going to say in that particular moment, because right then, Ash's stomach growled loudly. The teenager grinned sheepishly.

"Oops, guess I haven't eaten in a while…"

May and Brendan exchanged looks, and laughed softly.

"Same old Ash."

Misty rolled her eyes, but smiled at the boy anyways.

"Let's go to the Pokemon center." When she noticed Ash about to protest, she quickly continued, "-to _eat. And _to book a room for the night. Geez, Ash…"

* * *

After a short walk to the only Pokemon center in Vermillion, the group had made quick work of renting their rooms for the night. Unlike the case in Rustboro City, there was no shortage of room in the Vermillion Pokemon center. Therefore, May and Misty were able to book a separate room from Brendan and Ash. It turned out, however, that their room numbers were 1231 and 1233, respectively – meaning the group had ended up literally right next to each other anyway.

Hardly missing a beat, the four then made their way down the Pokemon center cafeteria. Two certain members of the group were obviously much more enthusiastic and eager to get there than the other two (who had rolled their eyes but smiled after them anyways).

May hastily made a round around the entire cafeteria, which was a spacious white room with stain-proof marble flooring and quite a few windows. Buffet bars served free (_and_ appetizing) food in a sectioned part of the lunchroom. The other part of the room was filled with chairs and tables very much resembling the ones in the West Riverwater lunchrooms, observed May.

As she had been loading up her tray, however, something weird happened at the salad bar. As May was reaching for the salad spoon, she could've sworn she had definitely reached straight for it, but it didn't catch in her hand like it was supposed to. In fact, she could've _sworn_ her hand just passed _right_ through it. She could've sworn that, for a split second, her arm dematerialized and rematerialized again. A puzzled expression took over May's face. When she reached for the spoon a second time, though, the wood could very much be felt against her palm. Therefore, she brushed off the previous failed attempt as due to her own lack of hand-eye coordination, a characteristic she had accepted of herself long ago. After successfully scooping some lettuce and tomato, she thought nothing of it as she began the trek to the dessert bar, and the event was quickly pushed to the back of her mind as she then returned to her friends.

When she finally got back to their claimed table, May realized she was the last to return. Also, the amount of food on her tray was second only to Ash's. She took the only seat left at the square table, which was next to Misty and Brendan, and directly across from Ash. Hers, Brendan's, and who she deducted left to be Misty's Pokemon gathered around the table on the floor, eagerly devouring their own Pokemon food.

Brendan gaped at her tray.

"You're going to eat _all_ that?"

Grinning widely, May exclaimed, "Yep!"

"Respect," he chuckled appreciatively as he took a bite of his own sandwich.

"So," began May, now directing her words to Ash and Misty. "Tell me what happened to you since… you know…we left Riverwater."

Ash swallowed the pasta in his mouth before speaking.

"Okay, well…" He leaned back in his seat in an attempt to get more comfortable. This might take a while. "... Don't laugh, but… after the whole wind-light-sucked-into-a-portal thing, I… kind of fell out of the sky and into a pond."

May tried her best to stifle the laugh, but it seeped out as a mangled snort anyway. A similar thing happened with Brendan. Ash scowled, although he was actually trying to compose himself as well.

"Okay, laugh it up…"

"Sorry, Ash," apologized May. "Keep going."

"Right, well…" Here, he exchanged a look with Misty, who had been drinking her soup peacefully. The two grinned knowingly. "I kind of started, um, y'know, _drowning_… So I just looked for something to hang on to. I noticed this bait thing a couple of yards away, around the bend of this _really_ big rock that I missed by" – he held up his hand to show the proximity of his thumb and index finger, which was about half an inch, by the way he held them – "and swam over to it and tugged it."

Here, he grinned widely.

"Turns out it was actually just a _certain _girl fishing for water Pokemon. She thought I was a Pokemon, and started reeling in… I'll tell you now, being a fish would never, ever be worth it if you _ever_ had to run the risk of getting caught by a hook and bait."

"I thought it was going to be the catch of my life," piped up Misty. "Seriously, he felt like a huge Gyarados... using Flail."

May and Brendan burst into another fresh round of laughter. The image of Ash using Flail was too good to pass up. Ash pouted.

"Mist! Let me finish!"

"Fine, Mr. Pouty Pants. See how much you're better at telling stories than I am!"

"I will!" he retorted. "Anyways… Mist got me onto land, eventually. The look on her face was priceless, and I would've laughed if I wasn't choking.

"Mist took me in. It turned out that we were pretty close to Pallet Town – yeah," he said, upon note of May and Brendan's surprised looks. "The one _we_ know from Pokemon from home! And then I spent the day at this Professor's lab. His name was Professor Oak, by the way. I told him and Misty and some lab assistants - who were really interested - about what happened, where I'm actually from, how I think you guys got sucked into all this with me but weren't near, yadda yadda. Then the Professor gave me a Pikachu-"

"Woah, woah, woah… he gave you a _Pikachu_? Dude, let us see!" interrupted Brendan.

Ash pulled up his backpack from the ground so that it rested on its knee. He began to unzip the front pocket. May and Brendan watched in wonder as his backpack loosened to reveal a familiar one-foot-tall yellow red-cheeked mouse – the one who was so famously known around the world back home for being _the_ mascot Pokemon of the entire franchise.

The Electric Pokemon was currently slumbering peacefully, curled up. It didn't seem to have been disturbed by its unveiling.

"Awww!" gushed May. "He's _so_ cute!"

"He tried to shock me, at first," admitted Ash. "We became friends pretty fast, though." Here, he looked at Misty again, who had been smiling at the little mouse as well. "I think he took to Mist before me, actually," he laughed.

Misty rolled her eyes.

"A little," she chuckled. "He didn't try to fry my brains at first touch."

The Pikachu was now beginning to wake, his small body cutely stretching as he yawned.

"Chaaa…?" he murmured sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

"Morning, buddy," greeted Ash.

"Piiii…" he chirped happily, bouncing out of Ash's backpack and onto his shoulder, where he proceeded to step onto the back of his neck in an attempt to tousle his trainer's hair. "Pika!"

Pikachu then proceeded to jump swiftly to Misty's head, nuzzling the girl as he did so.

"Hey, bud. Meet May and Brendan – remember the friends I told you about?" said Ash.

Pikachu took a break from displaying his affection for Misty to study the two newcomers curiously. He went on the basis that if Ash trusted them, then he would/did too.

"Pikapi!" cried the Pokemon as he bounced happily from Misty to May, settling a bit to familiarize itself with her scent.

"Hi there, cutie," giggled May.

Pikachu grinned, then moved on to Brendan's head.

"Hey, been good to Ash?" he asked lightly. "Don't shock me, a'ight?" he said as he reached up for a handshake with the Pokemon. Pikachu stretched out his stubby arm to lightly touch the boy's open hand with his own paw. "Pi, Pikachu!"

One bounce later, he was reunited with his original trainer. Pikachu plopped itself down next to Ash's plates of food, and happily began eating from them.

"So, what happened next?" pressed May, returning the group's attention back to Ash's story.

"Well, then Mist suggested that we go back to Cerulean – her home – to figure out what I should do next, and it's the place where she has the most resources, anyway. So the Professor gave me a map of Kanto, some spare PokeBalls, a couple of Pokedollars – small stuff, y'know? It wasn't really like I had a direction or goal in mind, because I didn't know where you guys were, so I just went with her.

"We hitched a ride from Pallet to Viridian, walked through _all_ of Viridian Forest, and when we got to Pewter, just rode the rest of the way to Cerulean on her bike. When we got to Cerulean, _that's_ when I found out she was actually Cerulean's gym leader – right?!" he exclaimed upon May and Brendan's shocked expressions. "And just for fun, we had a battle. Pikachu won it for me-"– he took this chance to scratch Pikachu's head affectionately – "and she gave me the Cascade Badge. League rules or something, even though" – he shot Misty a glare – "I didn't ask for it, and it was probably better to save it for a trainer who's actually going to_ challenge the League_."

Misty glared back.

"Why are you still hung up about that, Ash? It's just a _badge_. We have _dozens_ more in a little boxlabeled 'Badges'!You earned it, even if it _was_ by a stroke of luck!"

"You even admit it! So why even give it to me?" retorted Ash.

"Because you _won _it _fair and square_! Just accept it, it's already in your pocket anyways. Honestly, Ash, nobody's ever argued with me _after_ they _actually earned the badge_…"

"But I don't need it!"

Huffing angrily, Misty said dryly, "Okay then, think of it as a _souvenir_ or something. Of your visits to this world."

Ash scowled. He gave in, though.

May and Brendan watched the two, amused, and exchanged knowing looks somewhere in the middle of the two's banter. Both were probably thinking the same thing, yet neither shared it aloud with their other two bickering human companions at the table.

"Anyways… I spent the night at her house. The next day – which was yesterday – we left for Vermillion, because of its ports. I heard you had success at the Rustboro Contest, May. I was hoping really badly that it was actually you and not some weird doppelganger," he admitted with a laugh. "We just got here today, when you saw us at the harbor. Lucky you saw us and didn't let us leave," he finished, with a grin.

May smiled.

"So you and Misty got to spend a lot of time together, didn't you?" she said with an implying wink.

The two immediately turned pink.

"Him?" asked Misty incredulously. Immediately, she began reciting a defense. "He's immature, a loudmouth, an idiot-"

"Hey! _You're_ immature, a loudmouth, and an idiot-"

"_Real_ mature, Ash, using my own insults against me. I'm _so_ impressed-"

"-so you guys seem pretty familiar with each other," interrupted Brendan, smirking. "That's nice. You know, Misty, I've never seen Ash argue with a girl as spirited and as much as I've seen him argue with you in the past… ten minutes?"

Misty flushed, glaring at Ash as she did so. The raven-haired boy turned on Brendan.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think what he means, Ash, is…" began May.

Wordlessly, she finished her sentence by forming both of her hands into the shape of a heart. Her point was clearly conveyed. Ash grimaced.

"Why are you two my friends…" he muttered at the sight of May and Brendan cracking up and high-fiving due to their coordinated teasing.

In a few seconds, though, a sheepish grin overtook his face again at the same time a shy smile began melting onto Misty's. They couldn't stay mad at the other two teenagers even if they tried.

"So. What happened to you?" asked Misty.

And so May retold her story for the third time since dropping out of the sky and onto the outskirts of Petalburg City. When she got up to the point where she was on the road to Rustboro, though, she stopped. Brendan knew this was his cue to start retelling his, and thus did so for also the third time since he dropped out of the sky as well. Once they got to the point where they met up, the two could then tell the rest of the story together. Their Pokemon, Rustboro City, the contest, the after party, Solidad, Harley, Drew-

"Hold on," said Misty, interrupting the story. "Drew? Solidad? The coordinators? Are we thinking about the same ones here?"

"Um, well, Drew has green hair, and uh… Solidad has really long, pretty, pink hair… and she's really nice?" explained May a bit hesitantly. "Do you know them?"

"Well, yeah. Even among non-coordinators, they're still pretty big names. Prince of Hoenn and Queen of Kanto and all that," said Misty.

Ash was confused.

"Who are they? Celebrities?"

"Yeah, seemed like it," replied May. "Solidad won the contest, but Drew was in the finals with her. They were both really good… Apparently they've been in numerous Grand Festivals before."

Ash nodded. He remembered Grand Festivals from the show – although he never actually imagined them to have been real, obviously.

"Both of them are favorites for the Grandiose Festival this year, too," said Misty. "They've got a whole league of fans dedicated to them, too."

"Grandiose Festival?"

Now _there_ was a term Ash wasn't familiar with, although he could somewhat deduct its meaning from the name itself.

"Seems like it's the Olympics of coordinating," said Brendan. "Takes place every four years, too."

Ash nodded, Brendan having confirmed his suspicions. The name was pretty self-explanatory, anyways.

"That's pretty interesting," said Misty thoughtfully. "How'd you even get close to them? I heard the three of them travel together and things, but they're not exactly the type to get close to random people," said Misty.

"Actually, they're the ones who came up to us," admitted May. "They walked up to us and asked if we wanted to do the contest and all, because the lady at the counter had told them to recruit some last-minute contestants."

Misty nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay, what happened next? How'd you get from Rustboro to here?" pressed Ash.

Then May and Brendan continued on to talk about their brunch outing the next day (which was also that very day), and how Solidad had showed them the magazines. How they had decided to go on a whim and get to Vermillion as fast as they could, to perhaps catch Ash. How they had searched the entire day for him with no luck. How Drew, Harley, and Solidad had left, on their way to Saffron City, literally right before May and Brendan had noticed Ash and Misty down at the docks.

The four continued to talk, discuss, and chat long after that. In this time, Misty became good, fast friends with May and Brendan. They talked until all of the food that had previously been on their trays was gone, and the other people in the cafeteria had turned in for the night, for the most part. Meanwhile, their Pokemon had quickly acquainted themselves with each other, and proceeded to play for an overwhelming majority of the time (although they made sure to stay within eyesight of their ever-attentive trainers).

They only finally left the cafeteria when it was nearly 10PM, and almost time for that particular part of the Pokemon center to close. They returned all their Pokemon to their PokeBalls, with the exception of Pikachu, who always preferred to stay outside of his Ball. The group headed back to their rooms together, since rooms 1231 and 1233 were right next to each other anyway. After a quick bidding of "good night"s and "see you tomorrow morning"s, the two girls and boys went into their respective rooms and softly shut the doors behind them.

* * *

May and Misty readied for bed almost immediately. They made quick work of brushing their teeth, taking turns to shower, and changing into sweats/whatever form of pajamas they had.

Right now, May was sitting on her bed and combing out her hair (which, currently, was actually being rather stubborn). Misty was on her bed on the other side of the cozily-sized room, and was applying lotion to her calves.

"Swimmer legs?" laughed May.

It had been revealed during dinner that Misty, in addition to being the gym leader of Cerulean City, was also a rather renowned competitive swimmer. Misty grinned at May briefly before turning back to the task at hand.

"Yeah. Do you swim?"

"No," admitted May. "One of my friends used to, though. Then she turned to cross country."

"Cross country?" asked Misty. It was a term she was unfamiliar with. "Is this one of the friends you guys are looking for right now?" she added.

"It's basically long distance running through woods and fields and stuff," explained May. "And yeah, actually. June."

Misty nodded knowingly. Ash had told her about June.

"…Is it hard on you guys?" she wondered gently.

May immediately knew what she was referring to. The brunette shrugged.

"It's not too bad when there's people like you and Drew and Harley and Solidad around," she said, smiling.

"Thank you," said Misty with a laugh. There was a pause. Then, a bit slowly, the orange-haired girl asked, "So you really met Drew and Solidad, huh?"

"Mhm," replied May. "Why?"

"I'm intrigued," responded Misty. May's response of silence implored for the girl to elaborate. "I met Drew once, a while ago, when there was a contest in Cerulean. Solidad was with him."

"What about Harley?"

"He wasn't there," she said simply.

"Oh," mused May thoughtfully. "Go on."

"Anyways, our first impressions with each other weren't that great. We got into a fight – like, really, an actual Pokemon battle. It ended in a draw, and he seemed really surprised about that, the cocky little kid."

Here, Misty laughed. May joined in with her.

"And?" pressed May.

Misty grinned widely, deviously. Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"I couldn't help but notice he liked her," she confessed.

"Solidad, you mean?"

"Yes."

"I know," said May.

She supposed it was okay to talk about this with the girl, since Misty seemed to have known about Drew's little crush on Solidad, anyways. The topic of Drew had quickly become interesting, particularly with the mutual Solidad twist both of them apparently knew about.

"You do? Huh," said Misty thoughtfully. The girl turned to look at May, an impressed, confused, and interested expression on her face. "You must be the one he was mad at earlier, then."

May blinked.

"What?"

"We still keep in contact every now and then," admitted Misty. "Today, he sent me a text – something about how he'd met someone as nosy as me, or something."

The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes. May pouted.

"I was _not _being nosy!" the brunette furiously denied. Then, lowering her voice, she muttered, "He's the one who slipped up, the grass brain…"

"How did you find out he liked her?"

"…I just put two and two together," admitted May.

There was no need to go in-depth about the moon and stars quote, and how it had related to Drew's downfall – somehow, the brunette felt like that was a more personal sort of thing that should've been kept, well, personal. It was something that Drew had decided to privately share with her. It was something that connected her solely to him - a little insider thing of theirs, if you will. As wonderful as Misty was, for some reason, May didn't want to let that privacy go.

"What else did he say about me?" ventured the brunette.

"We didn't talk for long," said Misty. "It was over PokeGear. And he didn't mention your name, specifically. He just said you were… interesting."

"Really," said May. "Interesting," she echoed, feeling the word roll over her tongue. This was news. Drew had thought she was… interesting? "Speaking of _interesting_," began May teasingly. "You and Ash, huh?"

Misty rolled her eyes, but her face had colored slightly anyways.

"I don't know what you're talking about. He's so dense!"

"Yeah," admitted May. "But all the girls who've liked him at school like him because he's cute and dense and stuff. Plus he'd never find out about their feelings – not unless they screamed it into his face, anyway."

Misty chuckled, "Has that happened?"

"No, thank goodness," sighed May in dramatic mock relief.

Cracking a grin, Misty asked, "So… what about you and Brendan?"

"…What _about _me and Brendan?" replied May carefully.

"Oh, please," said Misty, rolling her eyes as she moved the moisturizer to her forearms. Winking, she said, "How do you _not_ see the way he looks at you?"

May cocked her head in genuine confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"May," sighed Misty exasperatedly.

"What? You're going to need to spell it out for me here, Misty…"

The gym leader thought intently for a moment, searching for the right words.

Slowly, she said, "Earlier, when we were eating… He kept sneaking glances at you. Half the time, when I glanced over at him, he was looking at you, even if you weren't talking."

"So?" huffed May, raising an eyebrow.

Misty shook her head. This girl...

"Okay then, how about… before you came back, the three of us were standing for a moment. Brendan pointed to a chair and said, 'May can sit there'. Then he was the first to sit down, and he chose a spot right next to the one he gave you."

"That doesn't mean anything," countered May. "There was..." - the brunette paused as she calculated the situation - "... a two-thirds chance of him taking a seat next to me. The odds were in that favor."

Misty groaned.

"May," she whined. "Why are you so bent on rejecting Brendan? He's a perfectly nice guy."

The brunette blinked.

"Well yeah, Brendan's nice and all, but I can't reject him if he's not making advances towards me."

Sighing, Misty gave up.

Under her breath, she muttered, "Dense as Ash." Then, the girl put down her bottle of lotion and turned to the wall that separated theirs and the guys' room. "Sorry, Brendan, I tried," she told it seriously. "You're on your own now."

May chucked a pillow at the orange-haired girl.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Some Pokeshipping (and Contestshipping), if you squint. ;)

I've always thought canon Misty and canon Drew would've had a good relationship. Not necessarily a romantic one, but a nice friendship could build if they went to each other to rant when they needed to do so (about the airheads they have as boy/girlfriends). Plus, their (somewhat similar) personalities could result in some fun chemistry. It makes a bit of sense, right?

And with that, thanks so much for reading! And leave a review on your way out, if you'd like :)


	12. The Fall

The next morning, when May woke up, the first thing she did was not flutter open her eyes, excitedly sit up, and cutely yawn. Instead, she stayed there, in the comfort of the bed. She didn't even open her eyes, knowing that it was still much too early for the introduction of the dawn light to her eyes, which, she knew, was streaming in from the window.

Anyways, her eyelids still felt heavy. Her mind felt alert, though. From what she could tell, Misty was still asleep, her soft snoozing vaguely reaching May's ears from the other side of the room.

In other words, the perfect situation in which to lie in a bed and ponder.

What was today? How long had she _actually _been here? It'd felt like forever ago since she was in Mr. Benand's geometry class, and it felt like forever ago since she last did a 2-mile timed run in gym.

May thought back to that day. She'd call that the first day. The day when she had a grilled cheese for lunch, Mr. Benand's lecture was on triangle application theorems, she ran two miles in seventeen minutes, and then they had all been promptly sucked up by some crystal into this Pokemon world. She'd received a Pokemon, and found Brendan.

Day one.

The next morning, they reached Rustboro City, and she and Brendan had their first argument. They'd met Drew, Harley, and Solidad, signed up for a Pokemon contest, practiced routines and combinations, and Drew had encouraged her with an inspiring quote about the moon and stars.

Day two.

The day after that had been the Pokemon contest. It was the day she placed top four in her first-ever _real _contest, met Brianna, went to the afterparty, met Ryder and Roxanne, danced with Ryder, Brendan, and Drew, and had been invited out by the last for a "date" the next day.

Day three.

The morning after that, she and Brendan met up with Drew, Harley, and Solidad. They'd gone to brunch, immediately caught a high-speed ship to Vermillion City, and found Ash and Misty.

That was yesterday. Day four.

…Which meant that today was officially day five.

As she recollected the various days, May couldn't help but have been slightly overwhelmed, despite the fact that these events had all already happened. So much had happened in the past few days.

Also, now that she finally had a quiet, undisturbed, indefinite amount of time for her to sort out whatever thoughts she wanted to sort out…

…What, exactly, was the deal with…

…Drew?

Ever since the second day (also known as the first day she met the spinach brain…), most of their conversations had included an argument at some point, if not all of them. Was that even normal?

May racked her brain.

_Nope. Never met two people who argued every time they talked to each other._

Actually… no. The closest pair of people that May personally knew who could refute that statement was probably Jimmy and Marina…

…But those two were different, because they were dating and obviously had always had a thing for each other. Things were always different when romance came into the equation, so their example was out, of course. Love was the inconsistent variable that screwed up all formulas.

But… what if, hypothetically, that was the only equation that worked?

For the briefest of moments, May entertained the idea of… a relationship of Drew. A civil relationship. A _romantic _relationship. And they'd fallen in love with each other or something along the line?

Then May's face immediately blanched, even with her eyes closed and her face buried under a blanket. Mentally, her conscience gagged. Ew. Date Drew? _Marry _Drew? What was she even thinking?

There had to be another answer.

Then May snorted. Of course.

Rivals.

Enemies.

_That'_s what she and Drew were. It made more sense than the romantic notion, at least. Besides, she didn't know many couples who argued all the time – only Marina and Jimmy.

But wait… Why were they rivals/enemies in the first place? What'd even happened that they could be rivals/enemies? One contest hardly counted towards being a rival, especially since she doubted she was going to enter many more, if any. The two hardly even had any reason to actually dislike each other… so, she supposed, that ruled out enemies? Rivals, as portrayed in the franchise, could be friendly towards each other, and still argue too… But they weren't rivals…

… Why was this even a huge matter of concern? May berated herself for actually getting caught up about in it. There was even a chance that she'd never see him again. There was a chance that she'd never see any of that trio again.

And yet, after the three days that they'd had to spend time together… May actually felt a bit sad about the notion of maybe never having the chance of teasing Drew in the flesh about Solidad again, or the chance to make more snide comments about his hair. She had a lot more up her sleeve, too. Olive face, shamrock shake, broccoli head, pickle(d) hair…

She was about to move on to think about Harley and Solidad as well, and was going to eventually go on to ponder her whole situation. Maybe, from home, she actually knew something about this Pokemon world that could've served as a potential lead or hint. And perhaps, at that exact moment in time, if she had realized that, then it may have saved quite a bit of valuable time later on.

But she hadn't. Not at that moment.

That was solely due to the fact that Misty was now stirring, and making the noises to prove it. May heard the rustle of her blankets and creak of her bed as the gym leader stretched.

"Misty?"

"Morning, May," the girl murmured drowsily. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

The brunette sat up, feeling rather awake. Neither her eyes nor mind felt heavy. Well, that was new. "No, I've been up."

Misty rubbed at her eyes as she climbed out of her bed. "Would you mind if I used the bathroom first?"

May shook her head. "Go ahead," she said. As Misty left to occupy the bathroom, May grabbed her bandanna from the wooden nightstand next to the bed and expertly tied it around her head.

Then, she clambered off her bed and made her way over to her backpack, which was sitting by the exit door. She quickly found her clothes, and easily made the transition from nighttime to daytime outfits. After that, she packed up the few things she had left strewn around the temporary room last night.

The only thing left to do was to wait for the bathroom, an action which she accomplished by casually leaning against the wall. A quick glance at the analog clock in the room told May that it was currently 10:13AM.

It wasn't until 10:17 that the door to the bathroom finally opened once more, and Misty shot May an apologetic, sheepish grin.

May waved her off, smiling to symbolize to her that it'd been no big deal. The brunette proceeded to step into the bathroom, and began the ritual of brushing her teeth.

* * *

Not long after that, the girls were done. Misty packed up the rest of her belongings, May fixed her hair, and after a final sweep of the room, the two went into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. Exchanging knowing smirks, they crossed the few feet that separated theirs and the guys' room.

In a low, gruff voice that was barely recognizable from her normal one, May pounded furiously on their door and intimidatingly shouted, "FBI!"

Misty shot May a curious glance. The brunette then realized that they probably didn't have an FBI in the Pokemon world – probably some variation of it, but one that didn't specifically have the acronym "FBI". She winked at the girl, assuring her that she knew what she was doing.

The door in front of them swung open, revealing a slightly panicked and shirtless Brendan Birch. "_Holy_- …May, what are you doing?" he asked, distaste in his voice.

May scanned his body mildly. "Why do you go to bed shirtless?" she asked, avoiding the question.

He grinned wolfishly at her. "So I'm sexily ready at any time, just in case of surprises."

"Like what? Waking up to cold water splashing on you?"

Brendan scowled. "Funny. God, May, was that 'FBI' you?"

"Looks like it worked," laughed May. She peered over his shoulder. "Well, judging by the way Ash is on the floor."

Indeed, Ash was currently a writhing, crumpled heap of limbs and blanket on the floor, as if he had been peacefully slumbering, startled awake, and promptly tumbled out of his bed from the shock.

"Yeah," said Brendan, still slightly breathless. "Congrats."

May beamed. "Thanks. And why were you guys still in bed? We agreed to be outside our rooms at 10:30 today!"

"Umm…" Brendan squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then rubbed them with his hands, as if clearing a headache or vertigo of some sorts. "Guess we forgot. Sorry."

Misty lifted an eyebrow. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah… a bit. Can we go back to sleep?" pleaded Brendan. In the background, Ash lightly groaned in agreement.

"You had at least ten hours to sleep," accused Misty suspiciously.

"What were you guys doing last night?" asked May. Then she frowned, realizing the possible implications of her sentence. "Er…"

Brendan smiled softly, a faint trace of amusement sparking in the movement. "Talking," he said. When he saw that she was about to inquire, he quickly elaborated, "Guy stuff. You don't want to know."

"Trust me, we're better off."

Brendan chuckled. "Come in? Might take a while to leave, in any case."

Misty wrinkled her nose. "No thanks, it smells like guy in there," she deadpanned. May laughed in agreement.

The boy shrugged. "Suit yourself. We'll meet you in the lobby in… half an hour." And with that, he shut the door.

Misty turned to May, an apprehensive and skeptic look on her face. "How much do you want to bet they just went back to sleep?"

* * *

Figuring that they had half an hour to kill (forty-five minutes, by May's estimate), the girls decided to spend the time at the cafeteria. In the morning, the buffet bars were stocked with fresh omelets, toast, eggs, croissants, coffee – the works. The two sat down at a small, clean table – May with a filled tray of food, and Misty with a simple croissant and cup of coffee.

"You're pretty incredible, May," commented Misty, eying May's breakfast.

The brunette beamed. "Thanks!"

The orange-haired girl laughed. "So," she said, taking a sip of coffee. "What are you guys planning to do today?"

May paused to ponder Misty's question, a quarter of her buttered toast hanging from her mouth. "I don't know," she answered truthfully after swallowing the bread. "At this point, I don't really know where we need to go, or what we have to do…"

"How about you come up to Cerulean with me?" offered Misty.

May blinked. "Really? Sure! Do you need to go home for something?"

Misty pressed her lips into a thin line, the end pulling down slightly. "I've been away from the Gym too long," she explained slowly. "I…"

May looked at Misty, sadness and understanding dawning on the brunette's face. "Will you have to stay there?"

The orange-haired girl made eye contact with the brunette and sighed. "…Yes," she said, after a long pause.

May furrowed her brow, and took a bite out of her next victim, a small stack of pancakes. "We'll miss you," she said. "… Ash, in particular."

Misty rolled her eyes. "_Again_ with the Ash thing?"

May grinned playfully, winking. "You have chemistry!" she maintained. "And well, Brendan and I just met you yesterday. You've had a week straight with Ash. Well, almost a week."

Misty was quiet. "I… actually don't know, May. It... probably shouldn't feel like this…"

May lifted an eyebrow as she lifted another bite of syrupy pancake to her mouth. "Like what?" she pressed. Somehow, May was getting a feeling that Misty was suddenly going to get a bit sentimental with her.

Misty sighed, burying her face into her hands. "I've never… I didn't…"

May's eyes widened, and her mouth quickly spread into a knowing, smug smile. "You _like Ash_!" she blurted.

Misty eyed the girl warily. "I don't know," she mumbled quietly.

May's expression softened. "What's wrong?"

"I… I'm not sure how I feel. I just wish there was more time… even better, if you guys in general weren't _not_ from here…"

The brunette bit her lip. Of course. The factor that threw a loop into literally every single relationship they would create in their time here, friendship or otherwise. "Misty…" she attempted to soothe.

"It's alright, May. I don't even know if it's anything," the girl replied with a despondent smile.

May sipped her orange juice sadly, not knowing what else to say anyways. At that moment, the brunette would've given just about anything for Misty to have more time with Ash and, as a result, replace that halfhearted, melancholic smile on her face with a genuinely happy one.

* * *

True to May's estimate, the two boys bounded into the lobby at 11:18, as opposed to 11 on the dot. She and Misty had been waiting for them in the lobby's comfortable armchairs for about twenty minutes, yet had grown more impatient and untrusting of the boys' time management with each passing second.

"Alright," chided Misty as the two came into view. "What's your excuse now?"

"Er… Brendan spent too long trying to fix his hair!"

The said boy glared at Ash. "You were the one still asleep until ten minutes ago!" he retorted hotly.

"That's because we stayed up last night talking about your feelings for Ma- …uh," the black-haired boy said, a sheepish, guilty expression quickly overtaking his face. "…Er, disregard that."

A bemused, suspicious expression that involved a raised eyebrow overtook Misty's face. Brendan glared at Ash with an intensity hotter than before, his eyes clearly telling him "shut up now or die". May cocked her head, confused. "Feelings for…?"

"Ah… Ma…yonnaise! Yeah! Brendan _loves_ mayonnaise, _don't_ you, Brendan?" laughed Ash nervously as Brendan and Misty facepalmed.

A thoughtful expression appeared on May's face. "Mm... Personally, I don't like mayonnaise… Mustard's better."

Under her breath, Misty muttered, "… I'm surrounded by idiots…"

* * *

After the boys grabbed a couple of quick bites to eat from the cafeteria, the group of four left the safety of the Pokemon center. As Ash and Brendan ate, May and Misty filled them in on their next move – going to Cerulean. Ash was clearly crestfallen at the revelation that Misty would be leaving them soon.

Outside, the day was a bit cloudy, and a noticeable wind ruffled their hair and clothes. The group easily deducted that the fastest way to get to Cerulean City from Vermillion was straight north through Routes 6, 5, and Saffron City. If they walked fast and caught some public transportation, Misty deducted, they could reach Cerulean by nightfall.

The group set out sometime around noon. Route 6 wasn't terribly long, and was fairly straightforward. They reached the outskirts of Saffron City sometime after 3PM, though even after catching a bus that took them partway across the city, it still took another hour and a half to cross the length of the metropolis itself. In terms of total distance that they had to cover, Route 5 was a bit shorter than Route 6. However, Route 5 cut through a forest. Tall trees and lurking Pokemon surrounded them. The sun peeked out through gaps in the trees, so it wasn't overly dim.

They were walking a path that rose up a rather high hill, and seemed to endlessly, yet slowly, elevate. If someone peered over the side, they would've been in a good position to fall to the far forest floor, and the journey itself would've been filled with trees and bushes.

Right now, Ash and May were beginning to complain about being hungry and tired.

"It's only 5," observed Brendan. "We're making pretty good time, right, Misty?"

"Yeah," said Misty. "We should be able to get to Cerulean by 7:30... 9 at the latest."

Ash and May groaned at the prospect of another three to four hours of continuous walking.

Brendan rolled his eyes. "You think _this_ is bad?"

"Lucky you, the cross-country runner. The rest of us aren't as special, you know," muttered May.

"Misty isn't complaining, either."

"Well, she's still an athlete! And she's probably traveled on foot around the Pokemon world since she was ten!"

"Eight, actually," piped up Misty. "I've been traveling around and doing water shows with my sisters since I was a kid."

"See? Exactly!"

"Excuses, May."

May pouted childishly, crossed her arms, and turned away from him.

As Ash laughed, Misty couldn't help but be amused at the way Brendan so adoringly watched May's turned back, even as the brunette was playfully ignoring him.

After about a half a minute of the silent treatment, May forgave Brendan and resumed happily talking with him. Ash and Misty began discussing battle strategies, with Ash suggesting things he learned from the franchise from home and Misty giving him insight on the similarities and differences between the way that and this Pokemon world worked.

There was joking, laughing, teasing. Everything was fine, and it seemed like they would make it to Cerulean well before the end of the night without hiccups.

Then, a few minutes later, May absentmindedly stepped on a rock the wrong way, and nearly sprained her ankle. Luckily, she didn't – but the action sent her stumbling over the side and, with a shriek, skidding down the steep side of the elevated path.

For a moment, time froze.

Then, Brendan seemed to have been the first to gather his wits again. He reacted with impressive speed in an attempt to grab her arm just before her entire being went over, but not quickly enough. His eyes widened. All he had managed to grasp in his hand was air. "May!" he shouted. Misty and Ash watched in horror as the girl fell away from their sight.

They heard the rustles and snaps of leaves and branches as the girl presumably crashed through them. Endless seconds later, the sounds of destruction stopped.

"… May?" asked Ash hesitantly. When there was no response, he tried louder. "May! Are you okay?!"

Still no response.

The teenagers exchanged worried, terrified looks. "We… we need to go down there."

"_How_?" asked Ash.

"Brendan, think it though," pleaded Misty, although it was clear from her tone that she wanted to follow May. "We'll just hurt ourselves trying to go down there from here..."

Brendan gritted his teeth, feeling utterly helpless and, he realized as he turned his head to look back down the way where May had fallen, frustrated that Misty was right.

* * *

May winced. The burning of the new scratches and wounds she had just acquired probably wouldn't subside for a while.

She had fallen. The action in itself had been terrifying, and she'd met with some resistances on her way down, obviously resulting in some injuries. Thankfully, her fall had been broken by leaves on the forest floor and her backpack. The fall had taken everything out of her lungs, and she was just now getting her breath and mind back.

She felt the pain begin to ebb away, which she was glad for. Upon her attempt to move her arm, though, it was evident that she would have pain, bruises, and scratches for a while. Luckily, there was no largely predominant pain that suggested anything to be broken.

Then the fear settled in. How far had she fallen? Where were her friends? She'd heard Brendan's cry of, "May," right before they disappeared from her line of sight, but nothing after that. When she looked back up in the direction she had fallen, she found that she couldn't see much except for the outlines of countless trees and foliage.

Curse her clumsiness to the pits of the center of the earth.

Slowly, she sat up. Arceus, her back hurt.

Holding her hand to the back of her head in an attempt to soothe a pain in that area, she swiveled her head to look around her.

In front of her, of course, was the elevated cliff/hill/path she had fallen from. To her left was a unmarked path of fallen leaves, trees, and ground that seemingly stretched for eternity. To her left was a similar thing. Behind her, the forest floor melted into a rocky riverbank, which led to a shallow stream of clear, rushing water. There were a few Pokemon lapping at the liquid, and she noticed a few hiding in some bushes, curiously watching her. Aside from them, though, she didn't notice any other signs of life.

Fabulous.

Curse her klutziness. To the bottom of the world and back.

Sighing, she gingerly stood up. She wasn't about to check right now, but she hoped her phone didn't get broken. Using a nearby tree as support, she dug around in the outermost pocket of her backpack for a certain PokeBall.

Weakly, she called out, "Beautifly."

There was a flash of white light, and then the Butterfly Pokemon materialized from a beam of red radiance. It chirped a happy greeting, and then quickly changed its tone to one of worry upon seeing her trainer's condition.

May cringed, wondering how bad she looked right now. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see the twigs and leaves in her hair.

As the brunette gazed at her Pokemon, she found herself wishing very much that Beautifly was strong and/or large enough to have been able to fly while supporting the girl's weight. At least it could fly itself, though. "Beautifly… Ash, Brendan, and Misty are up there," she said, gesturing upwards in the direction of the steep, rocky hill she had fallen from. "Tell them I'm alright."

Beautifly watched its trainer warily, clearly concerned. May smiled. "I'm fine. Go, Beautifly. Then come back." With a small nod, the Pokemon fluttered upwards to where the brunette had told it to go.

With a sigh, May slumped down against the tree to wait for her Pokemon to come back. She closed her eyes, and for a few moments, shut herself off from the world...

"Are you dead?"

May's eyes snapped open at the sudden voice, her body jumping a bit from the surprise. In front of her was a girl, and she was peering down at May curiously. She seemed to be more or less May's age, and was rather pretty, May noted. She had straight, shiny brown hair that didn't stop until the small of her back, and daring cerulean eyes. On top of her head was a white fedora with a simplistic red design that was reminiscent of a PokeBall. A black tank was slightly exposed by another turquoise tank that she wore over it. Her pleated red skirt cut off at her mid-thigh, and a yellow messenger bag completed the outfit.

Upon May's reaction, the girl said, "Well, you _seem_ alive, enough."

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

The girl frowned. "Did you fall from up there?" she asked, gesturing to the severely elevated land on May's left. "You've got a lot of injuries."

"I'm alright," insisted May.

The girl made a clicking noise with her tongue as her eyes danced across May's exposed skin. The girl's right arm loosely clutched the strap of her bag, as if pondering whether to take it off or not. "Seems like you're hurting, though. Also, FYI, your head's_ gushing_ blood."

"M-my head?" wondered May timidly, bringing a hand up to her forehead to gingerly touch it. Sickeningly enough, she did feel a slick warmth. When she brought her hand back down, she observed a vibrant, wet red on her fingertips. "… Oh."

" 'Oh' is right," said the girl, who seemed to have decided to take her bag off. She stooped down to May's crouched level. Silently, May watched as she began digging through her bag for something.

_She really _is _pretty_, thought May. "What's that?" she asked when the girl took out a small jar of what seemed to be opaque white paste and unscrewed the lid. "Glue?"

The girl laughed. "Totally. No, it's antiseptic," she said as she retrieved a clean q-tip from a plastic baggie. "Hold still." She dabbed the q-tip with some of the substance, and began applying it in light flicks to May's wound. The brunette flinched at the contact to the sensitive area.

"What's your name?" asked May, hoping to distract herself from the burn.

"Leaf," the girl replied. "You?"

"May," she answered. Then she let out a contented sigh. The medicine's effects were nearly immediate – already, she could feel a severe dulling of pain.

Leaf appeared amused, and moved on to work on the other scratches on May's face that were also trickling blood. She wiped the excess liquid away with a napkin. "It's working, I assume?"

"Yes," said May, relaxing as she closed her eyes. She chuckled softly. "It's better than Neosporin."

For a moment, Leaf's eyes flashed. To her knowledge, there wasn't any medicine called Neosporin in any of the shops around here. "Do you have traveling partners?" she asked gently.

"…Yeah," said May, reopening her eyes. "Um, I think they might still be… up there…" she said, gesturing to the general area where she had fallen from.

Leaf followed the movement of her hand and looked up, nodding slowly. "How long have you been down here?" she asked as she moved on to the cuts on May's neck and arms.

"I… I fell down a few minutes ago." May furrowed her brow. Wait, where was Beautifly?

Leaf noticed May's change in facial expression. "Is something wrong? Don't worry, if your friends are still there, I can take you up there."

May beamed at Leaf. "You could? Thank you so much!" she said happily. "And, er… I sent my Beautifly up there to tell my friends that, well, I'm alive, but she's not back yet…"

"She'll be back. It was a pretty long fall," assured Leaf.

May blinked. "How do you know?"

Leaf gazed at May with a sheepish expression. "... I fell from there once, too," she admitted. "The first time I passed through this place."

May giggled. For what it was worth, she thought Leaf seemed like a rather graceful, kind girl. Not like herself, who was klutzy, had a black hole for a stomach, and was prone to blowing up every now and then. Leaf chuckled at her own expense.

"Beauuu!" chirped a familiar voice.

"Beautifly!" said May happily, turning her head to watch the incoming Pokemon.

Leaf turned her head as well, smiling. "Yours?"

"Yeah," said May. She blinked curiously when she noticed a rolled-up sheet of loose-leaf paper in the curve of Beautifly's proboscis.

"What is that, Beautifly?" she asked, reaching out for the paper. Beautifly happily released it, hovering in the air effortlessly as May unfurled the paper with one hand and read it.

"_We're glad you're okay, May. Should we come down to help you?"_ it read, scrawled in Brendan's messy handwriting.

May bit her lip, and reached into her backpack for a pencil to use to respond to the message with. "_Don't come,_" she wrote. "_Wait there. I'll be up soon."_ Then she rolled the paper up again, and handed it to Beautifly, who eagerly took it and flew off with it.

"That should do it," said Leaf, putting away the miracle antiseptic. "Let me just put some gauze and tape on your forehead, alright?"

"Okay," said May, as the girl moved to work on the wound around her forehead again. "So ah… how old are you?"

The girl was quiet for a moment – whether from concentration with the first-aid work or mulling over the question, May wasn't sure. Eventually, though, Leaf hesitantly answered, "…Sixteen. You?"

"Fifteen."

Leaf nodded thoughtfully. "Where are you from?"

"Um… well... I started my journey in Petalburg. In Hoenn." Well, at least it wasn't a complete lie.

Leaf nodded. "I've heard of Petalburg, but I've never actually been there."

"And you?"

Once again, the girl was quiet as she seemed to contemplate the answer to a relatively simple, basic question. "Pallet Town," she finally answered.

May nodded. She was about to say something about how Ash had been in Pallet Town, but thought it better to keep quiet about it. As nice as Leaf seemed to be, May didn't know her very well. It was probably for the better that she didn't blab all her secrets to the girl.

"I'm done," said Leaf about five or so minutes later, evidently satisfied with her work. The girl began putting her things back in her bag.

"Thank you so much," said May gratefully, standing up. Leaf mirrored her. "And er… you were going to help me get back up there?"

"Yup!" said Leaf, winking. The girl pulled a miniaturized PokeBall from her bag, enlarged it, and tossed it onto the ground. After the light dissipated, it revealed an adorable small ball of pink.

"Aw!" gushed May. "It's so cute!"

Leaf grinned. "Jiggly can inflate herself and fly. Jiggly? Can you help May out by getting us up that cliff?"

The Pokemon smiled widely. Then, it promptly inflated itself to the size of a large desk. May watched, amazed.

"Hold on to my hand."

May complied, grasping Leaf's outstretched hand. Leaf's other hand had a firm grip on Jigglypuff's swollen self.

Then, they were being lifted off the ground.

May marveled at the feeling of which she assumed resembled that of grabbing onto a large balloon and slowly floating upwards. They ascended without once hitting a tree or branch.

After about a minute or so of floating, May noticed that the height of the elevated cliff was quickly coming to an end. Jigglypuff rose a couple of yards more than was totally necessary, enabling May to come into full view by her friends.

"May!"

"Are you okay?"

"Who's this?"

"WOAH, IT'S A JIGGLYPUFF!"

As much as she liked the ride, May realized she was actually incredibly glad to touch solid ground again when she lightly stepped back onto the path.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she laughed softly. "Guys, this is Leaf. She... helped me a ton. And yes, Ash, it's a Jigglypuff," she added with a smile.

"Thanks a ton for taking care of May," murmured Brendan graciously, facing Leaf. "And for bringing her back to us."

The brunette smiled. "No problem."

"May, you're such a klutz!" chastised Misty. "Do you know how _worried_ we were?"

"I… I can imagine?" laughed May nervously.

"Ugh," snorted Misty as she pulled May into a hug. "Don't you _ever _do something like that again. Arceus, May, what are we going to do with you?"

"You sound like my mom, Mist," noted Ash.

"Shut it, Ketchum," retorted Misty.

May giggled, and returned Misty's hug. As she breathed in the peachy scent of Misty's hair and felt the girl's warmth, May couldn't help but thank her lucky stars for her friends… because really, deep down, that experience had brought some part of her to realize how dangerous she'd be to herself here in the Pokemon world - as well as the rest of her life. And as cheesy as it sounded, just-strangers-a-minute-ago or not, she really was excruciatingly relieved that she had friends who would always be there when she fell.

Pun intended.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Okay, before anything else, I want to mention this - right now, I'm doing a collaboration with AquaStarlight, and the first chapter was just uploaded. She's an amazing writer, and I'm really, really excited about doing this story with her. Seriously, if you like **dragons **(okay, c'mon, who doesn't?)**, Oldrivalshipping, Contestshipping, humor, adventure, action, romance**... you'll like/love it. :)  
On my profile is a link to our joint account, and you can click that to get to the story. You can also just type in "savoir faire leaf" in the search engine, and it'll be the first and only result you get back. Promise.

Thank you for reading this (and sf, if you're planning to look at that) and reviews are so, so appreciated. :)


	13. The Poem

May woke to a vague yet pleasant scent of woodland and bushes. Blinking open her eyes, the brunette saw the quiet slumbering figure of Leaf next to her, wrapped in the sheets she shared with May. She realized that the source of the fragrance was, in fact, Leaf.

Sitting up, the girl took a look at her surroundings. She was in a cozy bedroom – that much was certain. The walls were painted sky to navy blue, like the progression of the color of the ocean. Hung on them were clippings and posters of numerous water Pokemon, notable water Pokemon trainers, and a rather impressive number of awards. She and Leaf were on a mattress that – albeit comfortable – lacked a proper frame to lie on. To her left was Misty, who was peacefully asleep on a twin-sized bed. A wooden wardrobe occupied a corner of the room, and a writing desk occupied another. A towering wooden bookcase of novels and writings stood against a wall.

And in a rush, it all came back to her.

* * *

_After May's rescue, the group had taken a few more minutes to scold May about her clumsiness, and made sure the fact that that all of them had been worried beyond belief properly got into her head._

_After all this, they were going to continue on their way to Cerulean. Ash asked Leaf if she was going anywhere in particular. If not, he'd wanted her to stick around for a bit, so that maybe, if the chance arose, they could somehow pay Leaf back for her services._

_The girl had laughed. "It's alright. You don't have to repay me. That miracle ointment's less expensive than you might think."_

"_Come on, Leaf. Unless you have somewhere to go, come with us!" said May._

_Leaf bit her lip. "Well… I guess, at the moment, I'm not much more than a nomad..." she chuckled lightly.  
_

_May brightened. "Even better."_

"_Are you really sure about this?"_

"_Of course!"_

_Leaf smiled. "Well, then…I'm in your care."_

_They then continued on their way to Cerulean, albeit at a slower pace than they were traveling before, in May's consideration. None of them wanted a repeat of May's little incident, either._

_Despite May's little mishap – which probably delayed them for a good twenty minutes – the group still arrived in Cerulean City in a rather timely manner. Misty's estimate had been pretty accurate; they arrived in Cerulean a little past 8 o'clock._

_The first and last place they stopped at was the Cerulean Gym. Unluckily, the gym was a bit far from the route exit, but none of the teenagers quite minded. Cerulean City was wonderful at night, and the scenery was worthwhile. Cerulean wasn't quite as grand as Rustboro or even Vermillion, but it was pleasant in its own rustic way._

_As Misty fumbled with the gym's lock, the other teenagers couldn't help but marvel at the outside of the building. The front was lavishly decorated with a huge Dewgong, and as Ash pointed out, the architecture resembled that of a circus tent a bit. Wearily, Misty had replied that it was more of an aquarium than anything, and opened the door. She had been the first one to step in, and with that responsibility, turned on the lights to illuminate the gym._

_Immediately, everyone headed for the poolside lounge chairs, and sank into them gratefully. All of their tired feet gladly welcomed the relief, and May muttered something about swearing she had blisters._

_Once the overwhelming relief had passed, they then observed their surroundings. The entrance had opened up into a spacious, light room. In the middle was a well-sized pool, and diving boards loomed above it. According to Misty, it also doubled up as a water arena, and it was where all the challengers had to face her for the badge. Ash had smiled fondly. Then he asked Misty where her sisters Daisy, Violet, and Lily were._

"_Off on a cruise around the world or something," she said nonchalantly, shrugging._

_Ash had frowned as he comprehended that her sisters' absences were the reason why Misty had to leave them._

_"…Don't worry about it, Ash," soothed the girl. Being the good host she was, the girl then asked the group if they wanted dinner._

_Everyone had replied enthusiastically, and were more than happy to feast on some stock instant noodles as their Pokemon fed on some of the gym's vast storage of Pokemon food. Afterwards, all the humans had a generous serving of ice cream and berries that Brendan found after checking the fridge, while the Pokemon reveled in the heaven that were PokeBlocks._

_After an hour of animated chattering, laughing, and - on the Pokemon's part - playing, everyone found themselves severely tired. Misty had ushered Leaf and May into her personal bedroom, which was hidden a little deeper into the building. Ash and Brendan were invited to stay in one of the guest rooms. The sleeping arrangements worked out well, as there was a spare mattress in one of the hallway closets closest to Misty's room, and the beds in the guest rooms were all quite large. Ash and Brendan could have a full yard's distance between them and still roll around comfortably._

_All five readied for bed rather quickly. The sexes bid each other "good night"s and "see you tomorrow"s before shutting their doors for the final time that night._

_When May, Leaf, and Misty climbed into bed, though, they had found that they weren't actually as tired as they'd thought they were. May then suggested that they play Truth or Dare. However, the fact that all of them were too tired to actually do any _good _dares resulted in the outcome of it being, essentially, Truth or Truth. At least it was a chance to learn more about each other._

_First had been the typical questions. "Have you ever liked someone?" "How many people have you liked?" "Do you like Ash?" "Do you like Brendan?" "Do you think Brendan likes_ _you?" "What's the worst way you've ever turned someone down?" "Would you rather be rejected or lied to?" "…Who's better: Ash or Brendan?"_

_After a while, less personal questions began arising. "What was your first Pokemon?" "What's your _favorite_ Pokemon?" "What did you want to be when you were little?" "Who was your biggest role model?" "Who IS your biggest role model?" "Which region has the hottest guys: Hoenn or Kanto?"_

_At some point, May had wordlessly begun to drift asleep, and was on the borderline between consciousness and fully knocked out. Despite this, it was still a state where May was too tired and lazy to actually respond to things asked of her. Misty and Leaf only realized this after May didn't respond to a truth question Misty gave her. Rolling their eyes, the other two girls had then decided that that was their cue to go to sleep as well. Misty reached for the lamp on her nightstand and turned off the light with a quick flick of her finger. The room immediately grew dark, and the two soon fell asleep as well._

* * *

May smiled. The three girls had learned _quite_ a lot about each other last night. It was too bad she…

May squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to block out the thought. It didn't do much, because her consciousness knew what her mind was about to finish, anyways.

_It was too bad she wouldn't stay here._

Sighing, May sat up slowly. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now, anyways – she felt much too awake for that. A quick glance at Misty's clock told her that it was only 8:06AM. May was confused. She normally didn't wake up this early, and felt so…_good_, too.

The brunette gingerly eased herself off the bed so as to not disturb Leaf. As she made her way to the center of the small room, May furrowed her brow. Now what? She didn't want to open the door (for that may disturb Misty or Leaf), and didn't feel like stepping outside the room, anyways. She didn't want to go back to bed, because she knew her mind was going to wander to places May may not have necessarily wanted it to.

Her eyes wandered Misty's room. Perhaps there was something in here that the brunette could occupy herself with. She wasn't about to pry around Misty's desk or her closet, so May wandered over to a cluster of awards.

"_Swimsuit Beauty Pageant - Winner", _one read. "_Queen of the Princess Day Festival"… "Whirl Cup – Top 16"… "Tour de Alto Mare" _May particularly marveled at the glass medallion that was the last one, which was beautifully polished and decorated with two certain Eon Pokemon.

Misty was quite the impressive girl, it seemed.

The brunette moved on to the next batch, some of which were peacefully resting on the shelves of her bookcase. "_Seaking Catching Day"…"Pokemon Balloon Race" _May chuckled quietly, beginning to sense some sort of pattern to Misty's awards. She was about to inspect a small, golden trophy when something else caught her eye.

A silver hardcover book was placed near the trophy, but to May, it was far more captivating. The side read "_Pokemon Haikus_", and yet, the most interesting part was that it also read "_By Professor Samuel Oak"_ a bit below it. Intrigued, May carefully took the moderately-sized book from the shelf.

In itself, the layout of the front wasn't much more impressive than the side. It was very simplistic, and the title and Professor Oak's name were printed in black. May opened the book to a random page.

_"Raichu - a Raichu, one per household; private power generator," _it read. May giggled inwardly – for some reason, it was kind of funny to her.

Her eyes flickered to the next page. "_Hitmonlee – send them flying, with one kick, Hitmonlee." _May bit her lip in an attempt to not let the laugh that was building up inside her escape. She wondered if it was rude for her to be so amused at these haikus.

May turned the page. "_Eevee - Eevee, has seven evolutions; now which shall I choose_?" Huh. _That's right_, remembered May. Eevee _does _have seven evolutions... Lately, she hadn't given evolving the tiny Pokemon much – if any – thought. There were always more pressing matters at hand.

May read the next haiku. "_Celebi – Time traveler; second only to, Temporal Pokemon." _May blinked in confusion. Who was the Temporal Pokemon, again? She deducted that it was probably either a Sinnoh or Unova Pokemon. May had long ago accepted the fact that those two particular regions were her weaknesses, and that her knowledge of Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto were much greater. She made a mental note to ask Ash about it, later.

Then, a thought struck May. Maybe, just maybe… the reason she and her friends were here was somehow related to some legendary Pokemon. Assuming the facts from this world and the franchise she knew, the legendary Pokemon held enormous power and manipulation over many symbolic aspects of the world.

May looked up from the book, and stared blankly at the wall. The book of haikus in her hand was temporarily forgotten as the brunette furrowed her brow in concentration. Why hadn't she considered this earlier? It made sense, really – for whatever reason, she and her friends were pulled from their world into this one by some mystical force. In the Pokemon world, the legendary Pokemon were particularly mystical forces. In any case, the idea was better than nothing. But which ones? And what, exactly, were they supposed to accomplish here?

May shut the book. As insightful as it was, she doubted it had much more to offer her, in terms of tracking answers to her questions down. She carefully replaced it, pushing it in-between the two books it had been between before.

Then, another title caught her eye. A few books over from _Pokemon Haikus_ was a cryptic-looking leather-bound book. It was the only text here that lacked words on the binding. Hoping it wasn't Misty's personal diary or anything, May took it out from its spot and examined the front.

May held the book in her hands, staring at it. The characters printed on the cover weren't any she recognized – to her, they looked like elaborate scribbles. Upon inspection of the contents of the book, May found that the book's entirety was written in the same foreign characters.

_Does Misty understand this…?_ wondered May incredulously, flipping through the pages – it was the girl's book, after all. The characters themselves looked mysterious and definitely strange, and yet, May realized suspiciously, a bit familiar.

May shook her head, closing the book. There was no point in trying to comprehend it alone. Tucking it under her arm, she decided to ask Misty about it later.

Her eyes wandered the rest of the occupants of Misty's bookcase. A couple of frilly romance novels, some magazines, a few cryptic-looking pieces of fiction, a couple of books exclusively about water Pokemon… the list went on rather extensively. As much as May liked water Pokemon and cheesy love stories, she was intrigued by the title of another book she found on the lowest shelf. Bending down, she retrieved it.

The cover was rather simple, and mostly white. A lone red stripe ran down the left side of the hardcover. The words "_Legends of Legendaries_" was printed in large gold letters.

May opened the relatively thin book to a random page. Luckily, this one was written in a language she understood.

"_Moltres takes the form of a large bird with flame-colored plumage, resembling a phoenix. Its dazzling wings and elaborate head crest appear to be covered with flames. It has a straight, pointed brown beak that is the same color as its feet. Compared to the other legendary birds, it has the smallest feet and legs. It is the largest of the legendary birds, but its feathers make up a good portion of its bulk_," said the first paragraph. Scanning through the following few pages, May quickly deducted that this was a rather comprehensive book on the legendaries it featured. Moltres's chapter spanned about thirteen pages, alone.

Out of curiosity, she turned back to the table of contents in the beginning of the book. Sure enough, the book only comprised of Kanto and Johto legendary Pokemon – Articuno, Entei, Ho-oh, Mew, but no Regirock, Groudon, Shaymin, Darkrai…

With a start, May realized that this suggested that this book also had a comprehensive chapter on Celebi. If her memory served, and the franchise and this world were still parallel, Celebi was recognized as a Johto legendary.

And well, also, Celebi's name was written right there in the table of contents. A solid line connected the Pokemon to page 58.

May quickly found page 58, and began reading.

"_Celebi is a green fairy-like creature. Celebi has round toe-less feet, three-fingered hands, and clear wings on its back. Celebi has a round head that comes to a point and sticks upward in the back. It has large baby-blue eyes with thick black rings around them, and a pair of green antennae that are tipped blue."_

_Okay, well, knew that…_

"_It is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon. It serves as the guardian of Ilex Forest and is rumored to only able to be caught from the wild with a mysterious GS Ball. Celebi is the last Pokémon in the Johto Pokédex and Hoenn Pokédex, although in the latter, Celebi is not shown."_

… _Knew that, too._

"_Celebi's main ability is the power to travel through time. Celebi also can restore plants to perfect health (an ability that is also accredited to Meganium). Celebi mainly attacks with surprisingly powerful Grass and Psychic attacks. Celebi can also levitate, although it does not possess the Levitate Ability. Celebi has also been shown to have the power of bringing dead Celebi back to life."_

_Knew that t- ...wait ..._"... If Celebi's _main_ ability is the power to _travel _through time, then that must mean Celebi isn't the main controller of time," whispered May, thinking out loud. "There's another Pokemon…"

May's heart quickened.

The brunette knew there was. Deep down, she knew that there was another Pokemon, and that the terms "time" and "space" went together, for some reason. It was on the tip of her tongue. And, she knew, those two themes could tie into the situation she was in now, in a different world and time from home.

She thought hard. It _must_ have been a non-Kanto, non-Johto, and non-Hoenn Pokemon, or else she would've had this epiphany a long, long time ago.

Call it instinct, but May had a feeling about her hunch here.

A dark, foreboding, and somehow, _difficult_ feeling about her hunch, but a feeling nonetheless.

* * *

The group was currently out at a restaurant for lunch, a small diner near the gym. It was Misty's treat (and, according to her, she got discounts for being the gym leader anyways.)

"Hey, Leaf? Did you have that necklace yesterday?" asked Misty, pointedly staring at the necklace around the said brunette's neck. Misty noticed it because the pendant was blatantly hanging outside of the girl's tank, and it was a vivid shade of bright green. A small loop cleanly attached the harlequin stone to the silvery chain.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's pretty," gushed Misty.

"It is," agreed May wholeheartedly, tilting her head to get a better look at the garment. "It's my favorite shade of green," she marveled. "Where'd you get it?"

"I… don't remember. Sorry," laughed Leaf guiltily. "I can try to make you one, though," said the brunette, winking.

May beamed. "Promise?"

"No." May's face fell at the rejection - much to the amusement of the group of friends surrounding her. "Just kidding, I can try," said Leaf, winking.

May immediately brightened, and happily said, "I'll hold you to that promise!"

Under his breath, Brendan turned to Ash and muttered, "Girls and jewelry…"

Misty and Leaf rolled their eyes, and May reached over to playfully punch him in the arm. "Take that back! It's shiny, alright? No hating on shiny things allowed…"

"Ow," said Brendan mockingly at the light punch. "I'm wounded, May. And," – he lowered his voice to direct his next statement to Ash – "I rest my case."

Ash grinned at his best friend's words, and even more so when May promptly hit the boy a second time.

As Brendan made a dramatic show proclaiming how he's never going to recover from his newly acquired injuries, May rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject. Then, she remembered what she had wanted to ask the raven-haired boy earlier. "Ash? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, May."

"Which one's the Temporal Pokemon?"

Ash blinked, clearly taken aback a bit by the question. The spaghetti on his fork continued to be lifted to his mouth anyways. The boy thoughtfully contemplated the question as he chewed.

Eventually, he swallowed. "Er, I'm not sure, actually… Nobody actually pays attention to any Pokemon's secondary titles, do they?" he said, abashed. "Why?"

"Well, I was going through Misty's bookcase this morning, and I found a book of haikus by Professor Oak… and I found one on Celebi," said May.

At the mention of the Pokemon's name, Brendan – who was sitting by the window and next to Ash – flickered his eyes, interested, in May's direction. His brow furrowed, however, when he noticed the eyes of Leaf - who was sitting next to May - flash for a moment.

Okay, Brendan was perfectly aware of the fact that she was a perfectly nice girl. Completely pure-hearted. After all, she _had _saved May yesterday, didn't she? Brendan owed the girl all his thanks, really.

And yet…

Underneath her polite, sweet demeanor, he sensed that she was hiding something. Something big. Something she, clearly, hadn't and probably wasn't planning on sharing with them anytime soon. He didn't mean to prod, but the girl was secretive. A little _too _secretive. And, as he suspiciously observed during last night's dinner, a little _too_ deliberate and always a beat too slow to answer the simpler questions, like, "Do you have any siblings?" (To which she had answered "no", in the end.) And now this, the eyes flashing part when May mentioned Celebi.

To Brendan, the constant observant, it was strange. Naturally, he was in no position to inquire (really, how would he even ask? "I demand to know what you're hiding"? How rude.). He didn't have any ill intentions towards the girl, either – from his impression, she was quite the pleasant girl. He wasn't going to antagonize her over something that could even hypothetically have been nothing.

For a moment, Brendan lost himself in his thoughts. Then he came back to May's words of, "And it said it was, uh… the second only to the Temporal Pokemon?"

Ash shrugged. "... Actually, I'm just not sure what temporal means," he admitted sheepishly.

"It's like… time, and stuff," explained Brendan. "Relating to time."

"Oh. Time? That's easy, then," said Ash, taking a sip of water. "If that's what temporal means, and you're asking about _the_ Temporal Pokemon, May, then I'd guess that it was talking about Dialga."

"Di… alga?" murmured May. Then, realization slapped the brunette in the face. "Of course!" she near-shouted, abruptly standing up as a result of her apparent enthusiasm and whacking Leaf with an elbow in the process. "… Oops, sorry Leaf."

"Mind telling us what's got you so excited?" asked Brendan warily.

And then May sat back down, although her eyes were still glittering excitedly. In a hurry, she quickly recounted the full events of this morning, when she was in Misty's room and there was nothing to do as she waited for everybody else to wake up. How she'd wandered over to Misty's bookcase, and looked through a few books, and realized that maybe, just _maybe_, their _situation_ was related to some legendary Pokemon in this world. And maybe, if they found which legendary Pokemon that was and somehow acquired some information or answers surrounding that, then they could have a lead. And then there was the fact that maybe, just maybe, _time _seemed like a pretty vastly-encompassing factor when it came to surreal situations such as theirs, and how her hypothesis was that, maybe, it was one of the factors of the answers to their problems, and so-

The brunette abruptly stopped rambling at the uncomfortable looks on Ash, Brendan, and Misty's faces. With a start, she realized that the other brunette next to her was watching her curiously.

Oh.

"Er… Leaf…" began Brendan.

Leaf's expression was positively unreadable by anybody else at the table. Literally, no one could tell what was running through Leaf's mind as the girl had obviously heard May's explanation about Celebi and Dialga and time and their _situation_.

For a moment, there was an awkward length of silence.

The next few words that came out of the girl's mouth surprised them.

"If you don't want to, don't tell me," she said. "I won't press. If you're hesitant about it, I don't want to know."

"… Really?" asked May timidly.

Leaf nodded. "Yep. Don't worry, May. Trust me, I have _no_ idea what you're talking about," she laughed.

Ash, Misty, and May visibly relaxed. "Sorry, Leaf," apologized May. "I…"

Leaf shook her head, smiling. "It's alright. Everybody has secrets."

There was a long moment of silence.

Then, Ash awkwardly began a conversation on the weather outside, and that little discussion eventually lead to a larger topic encompassing the varying climates that defined certain areas of certain regions.

After that, the air relaxed. It wasn't as if they didn't _want_ to tell Leaf, really – it was just simpler _not_ to. And it was probably a pretty acceptable logic that the less people knew about Ash, May, Brendan, Dawn, and June's situation, the better.

Everybody relaxed – everybody except Brendan.

Unlike his friends, he, on the other hand, was even _more_ confused by Leaf, and the way she had willingly dodged the questions and skepticism that must have attacked her. That, or perhaps there was simply no speck of nosiness in the girl.

How bizarre.

* * *

A few minutes later, Leaf softly cleared her throat. "Hey, sorry, I need to get out to go to the ladies' room," murmured the brunette, smiling. She carefully rose, maneuvered over May, brushed her clothes, and headed for the bathroom somewhere in the back of the diner.

Brendan watched the girl go. He wasn't sure if anybody else realized, but he knew that the girl had excused herself to discretely give the group privacy – specifically, to discuss May's outburst earlier.

He recognized this. And so he seized the opportunity.

"Okay, guys," he began sharply, lowering his voice as Leaf stepped farther and farther away. "C'mon, talk. What were you on about, May?"

May's eyes widened. The girl cast back a fleeting glance at the direction in which Leaf had disappeared, realizing Brendan's (and Leaf's) intentions. "I think… I think we need to find out more about Dialga," she said quickly, turning back to face the rest of her friends.

"Got a plan for that?" asked Ash dryly.

"I think… we should go to Sinnoh," murmured May. "We know from home, right? They really respect Sinnoh legendaries and their myths over there. Canalave… Canalave has a really big library, right? And Celestic is filled with elders and legends and relics… and Eterna is pretty focused on that type of stuff, too. I'm not even including the places like Coronet…"

Brendan nodded slowly, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "It makes sense. There's no other set of legendaries with elements that relate to our… situation so well, is there? … It's a good start, in any case," he mused.

"When are you planning to leave?" asked Misty.

"I… I don't know. Soon? This…" Then May stopped, her mouth open in a small "o" as her mind began working a mile a minute.

"What's up, May?"

"We… the fact that we're _here_…" began May – a tinge nervously, one might note. "…It can't be just because of nothing, right? There has to be a reason…"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. None of us figured that out, really."

"Oh be quiet, Brendan," snapped May. "I'm saying that something… _something _had to have happened. Maybe with… Dialga… or Palkia…or one of the other legendaries..."

"What're you saying, May?" asked Ash, a light tinge of confusion and apprehension in his tone.

"Let's go to Sinnoh… as soon as possible. I… I have a feeling."

Misty pressed her lips together, blinking at the leftover parsley on her plate. It was clear the orange-haired girl wasn't particularly pleased by this turn of events. She had been expecting the day when Ash and co. was going to leave, but honestly, she hadn't been expecting it to be so soon.

"Well, if you guys _must_ go be heroes as soon as possible…" the girl began, smiling ruefully as she did so. "Let me help you out one last time."

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

End of Part I. Next chapter will be the first of Part II, and that's when things will finally start picking up. big time. ;)

As always, thank you so much for reading the chapter (and up until this very word!). And as always, reviews are fantastic. :) winkwinknudgenudge

Until next time,

-Apheleia


	14. The Reunion

**Part II**

* * *

May watched as the scenery outside the window passed by with considerably astonishing speed. Outside, it was dim. The obsidian sky sparkled with diamonds, and the moon was a thick crescent. However, the surrounding land was mostly trees and grass and plains, all darkened from the absence of sunlight, so she probably wasn't missing much.

The brunette leaned back onto the wall behind her with a sigh. Wearily, she realized that, not unlike the high-speed bullet train that she, Ash, and Brendan were currently riding, the past few days had been... well, fast. They'd hardly stayed in the same city for longer than 48 hours, if that. They were always on a constant, brisk move.

May's eyes flickered to the two boys on the other side of the compartment. They had immediately claimed dibs on the lone pair of bunk beds in the room – Ash on the bottom, Brendan on top. Both of them were asleep and snoring softly.

The thought of the raven-haired boy on the bottom bunk made May's heart slightly ache.

After brunch, the group had headed back to the gym. Along the way, Misty informed them of a high-tech bullet train that left Cerulean everyday sometime in mid-afternoon, and had the outskirts of Sinnoh as one of its destinations.

As Ash, May, Brendan, and Leaf and were packing up their few belongings, Misty had set herself to the task of digging out a small wad of what she brushed off as only loose change, despite the fact that it contained well over 20,000 PokeDollars. She had handed the money to Ash and forced them to take it, saying that it'd be enough for their train tickets and then some.

She had then given them else – a gadget. A PokeGear, to be exact. The device was currently in May's hand, and the brunette had likened it to a clunky, colorful flip cell phone. It was prepaid, and had a disproportionate number of forty minutes and eight hundred texts' worth left in it. Misty's personal PokeGear number was already registered, and she had told them to call her in case of an emergency. If not, she sternly expected them to keep in touch with her via Pokemon center video phones whenever they could.

May smiled wryly, recalling the rest of the despondent farewell scene. She didn't think she'd ever seen Ash so sad – not even last month, when his GameBoy of nearly thirteen years had finally quit on him. And as Misty hugged the boy back, she too had had unshed tears in her eyes. May, Brendan, and Leaf had wandered a few paces away, giving the two some room.

When the train arrived sometime around three, and the group reluctantly left a waving Misty behind, it - quite honestly – had been heartrending.

May sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the brunette next to her stir a little at the sound, but then she quickly fell back into the rhythmic pattern she had been in before. In other words, Leaf was snoozing quite peacefully. And good for her - according to the PokeGear, it was two in the morning.

It was a funny thing how Leaf was still with them, actually. Despite the fact that the girl didn't know about their situation, she was still… well, here. Her presence wasn't a hinder to them, not at all, and it was another female in the group. (After all, Arceus forbid May be stuck _alone_ with Ash and Brendan. They were good friends, sure, and she trusted them wholeheartedly, but please...They were still _guys._) The ironic part is that still none of them had told the girl anything about them not being from the Pokemon world. Granted, it's certainly a thing that would freak some people out, and why take that chance? Especially when the girl in question apparently didn't even care much about knowing or not, and was simply interested in traveling around with a nomadic attitude.

May frowned. The truth was that she had slept from the minute they boarded the train – which had been about 4PM, according to Cerulean City's watch – and now she paid the price. She wasn't sure what her friends had been up to in the time that she'd been out, but whatever they'd been doing, they were sleeping soundly now. She, on the other hand, was rather awake and completely bored.

Her fingers played absentmindedly with the clunky sapphire device in her hands. For the past ten minutes, she'd been trying to figuring it out. From what she gathered, it was more resembling of a modern cell phone than anything else. There were simple apps, an empty message inbox, a blank call log, a barren photo album…

Really, the only thing May hadn't found was the contacts list – which was strange, considering it was such an essential item for such a device. May randomly tapped around on the screen, hoping for a break.

The brunette wondered if Misty would still be up at this hour. If she sent a text to the girl, would she respond? Or would May have to wait for a few hours for a reply?

The girl's fingers suddenly froze, and the screen was left to display the calculator application again as a result of her random pressing. She'd just recalled something that Misty had told her earlier…

…Now, May was more determined than ever to find that contacts list. One more time, she dug through the apps, options, tap after tap…

Two silent minutes passed. Frustrated, May furrowed her brow. The dim light of the PokeGear's screen cast itself onto May's face, emphasizing her agitated features even more. _Where_ was this _blasted _contacts list?!

Aggravated, May pressed the "home" button with narrowed eyes, giving up.

Then her anger melted away as disbelief settled in.

It was one of the most _obvious_ tabs on the home screen, right in-between the message inbox and time zone feature…

May smacked her forehead with her palm.

Typical.

Rolling her eyes and unsure of who exactly to blame – the stupid device, or herself – she tapped the icon with her thumb.

Immediately, the contact list pulled up. As she expected, there were only two names.

Misty, of course.

And Drew.

Before they left, Misty had informed May that she had taken the liberty of inputting Drew's PokeGear number as well. When May had quirked an eyebrow and asked why, the orange-haired girl simply shrugged, smiled, and said, "Because you know each other?" as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

A grin spread over May's face. Excellent – it was an opportunity to mess with him.

Hardly giving it a second thought, May tapped the "Send Message" icon next to Drew's name. "_Hii! :)"_ she typed out laboriously. May was normally a rather fast texter, but this keyboard was a bit difficult. She hit the "Send" button.

For the next fifteen or so seconds, May stared at the PokeGear's screen, waiting for an alert or something to pop up to signify that the device had received a reply from the boy she just sent a text to.

After about a quarter of a minute of waiting, though, May gave up on it. After all, patience had never been one of her attributes. Shrugging and tossing the PokeGear aside, she crawled over to the edge of her bed and retrieved a slim, red device from her backpack's side pocket.

Sticking the white headphones into her ears, May grinned. It hadn't been until a few hours ago that she'd realized she had her iPod. She usually didn't bring it to school, and it was her luck that she had on the day they were sucked into the Pokemon world. Her phone had a good amount of her music, yeah, but for the most part, the device's memory was taken up by the hundreds of apps it had. Thus, she still used her iPod, despite the fact that the design was now a good four years old. She'd never thrown it out and gotten a new one, though. After all, they just didn't make them like that anymore.

May turned the music player on with a flick of her finger, and was delighted to see that she'd been halfway through a David Bowie song the last time she had turned off her iPod. Easing herself back onto the wall again, May happily let the song resume.

She was three-quarters of the way through the song and playing a game of Solitaire when, out of the corner of her eye, something else caught her attention.

The PokeGear's screen had lit up.

Grinning widely, May hoped it was what she thought it was.

And sure enough, it was a reply from Drew. His words weren't exactly exciting, though. In the corner of her mind, May wondered what he was doing up at 2AM.

"_who is this"_

May frowned slightly. Aloof as always.

"it's May! your second most favorite girl in the whole world!"

About thirty seconds later, there came another message.

"_you're mistaken, there's no such person"_

"…well that was uncalled for"

_ "haha. how'd you get my #?"_

"your best friend misty of cerulean gave us this pokegear. And your number.. not that anyone would want it, though"

_ "bet on that, august?"_

"no, but i'd win, just for the record. so how are you?"

_ "youre a funny person, sept. and i'm ok, you?"_

"I'm alright, though I think i'm flattered that you care"

_ "uh you should be. you're talking to THE__ prince of hoenn, after all"_

"that's a good joke, your majesty"

_ "ty commoner"_

"ugh you think you're funny. lighten up on the conceited part?"

_ "not conceited if it's the truth. In fact, im being modest right now"_

"you're insufferable"

_ "you're a ditz…how's your head?"_

"MISTY TOLD YOU?"

_ "we're all just very concerned about your well-being, feb. it's not like you make it any easier on us to begin with"_

"I think I'm flattered that you're concerned"

_ "are you now"_

"…a little bit. btw, where are you guys?"

_ "jubilife, sinnoh"_

"…are you serious?"

_ "why would I joke about that, maple"_

"you guys just move…really fast…"

_ "yeah, we're headed for the contests in floarama and eterna"_

"you went all the way from hoenn to sinnoh for them?"

_ "partners contest in eterna, two ribbons in one go. Floarama just happens to be along the way"_

"thats really cool! Gl :)"

_ "not really, but I'm sure _you'd_ think so. where are you?"_

"offended. and I'm on a train from cerulean to sinnoh, actually"

_ "how's your thing going? Did you find ash?"_

"we think we've got a lead in sin. And yes, in fact"

_ "not bad, march"_

"it's MAY, pea hair"

_ "geez sorry oct"_

"youre such a…plant face!"

_ "plant face? that's the best you can do?"_

"it's late, I've got better ones that'll come to me in the morning…"

_ "hah k july. Listen, I gtg now"_

"good night, drew!"

_ "night, nov. hey maybe we'll see each other some time in sinn?"_

"yea :) count on it!"

_ "will do, see you maple"_

And with that last text, the conversation ended. A glance at the time told May that they'd gone back and forth for nearly twenty minutes.

The brunette fell back onto the bed, smiling like an idiot. That'd been a pretty good conversation, as far as their conversations usually went. In truth, she'd been expecting them to blow up at each other, or something. (Although, now that she thought about it, it was usually mostly her blowing up and Drew calmly standing there with a smirk and a comeback…) In addition, he seemed significantly nicer over text than in person. Or was that just her?

Also, he was in Sinnoh? That was a bit of a shock. Admittedly, she, Ash, Brendan, and Misty had stayed in Vermillion for another night and taken time to make their way to Cerulean, but still. Drew, Harley, and Solidad had made their way to Jubilife City, Sinnoh, in all of _two days? _Actually, they must've had even less, considering they entered that contest in Saffron as well.

Their confounding traveling methods aside, May wasn't sure why, but her mouth split into another grin when she thought about the likely chance that maybe, just maybe, she and Drew would see each other sometime soon.

* * *

They were in the middle of breakfast-on-but-not-actually-in-bed-because-otherwise-the-janitors-would-have-a-fit when the intercom came on.

"Attention passengers – we will be arriving at Sandgem Station in approximately seven minutes, at 12:40 Western Sinnoh Time. Please gather your belongings and descend the train in a timely fashion. We thank you for riding with us."

Ash's eyes bugged out of his head right as the train hit a small bump and he bit into a small fritter. He began choking.

While Brendan hit him on the back, in-between coughs, Ash managed out, "We… we need… to…get ready…get off…"

May eyed him warily.

"Easy, Ash."

"Yeah, we're already packed up anyways," said Leaf, shrugging and gesturing to the small of pile of backpacks near the door.

"I wasn't talking about _that_, I was talking about the food… it'd be a waste to not finish it by the time we get off, isn't it?"

Brendan rolled his eyes.

"Always about the food, aren't you, Ash?"

Ash grinned through a mouthful of omelet.

"What else?"

"We'll give you guys four, five minutes max left to eat. Then we need to leave the room and find the exits," said Leaf, primarily talking to Ash and May.

The said two teenager's eyes widened. Panicked, they immediately set back to work on breakfast. Leaf laughed, shaking her head. Brendan grinned good-naturedly, stole half a hash brown from Ash's plate, and ignored the glares from Ash.

"Wait," said May through a full mouth. Swallowing, she continued, "Why are we going to Sandgem, again? I think I missed that part when we were discussing that yesterday…"

Brendan shrugged.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? In the… _stories_," he substituted carefully, seeing as Leaf was in their presence, "The main characters started off in Twinleaf, didn't they? Then they went to Sandgem and stuff… if the _story_ is as parallel to real life as it's already been, shouldn't there be a professor or a lab or something there, too?"

"He's right," chimed Ash. "Professor of evolution, right?"

"Well, he's got to have more than just files on evolution at his lab. In any case, it's probably the better place to start, if we're going to aim for the rest of Sinnoh," said Brendan.

May nodded thoughtfully. It _did_ make sense, after all.

"I wonder what his lab looks like? I think Sandgem's pretty a small town, isn't it? It has a Pokemon center, though, and I'm pretty sure it has a PokeMart, too... Hey, if we have time, do you think we could stop by the little beach?" asked the brunette excitedly.

Leaf nudged May playfully.

"First, finish your food so we can go line up to get off."

* * *

After nearly a whole day cooped up in the confinements of the train compartment, it felt incredibly good on May's skin to feel the fresh air and breeze that blew in the outskirts of Sandgem Town.

Ash and May, astoundingly, had finished both mountainous plates of room service breakfast they had ordered. They'd then rushed off the train and stepped onto the concrete platform not ten seconds before the doors closed and the train began its journey to its next destination. Leaf and Brendan stood on the platform, watching the panting duo bemusedly.

With the aid of a free map, the group then made their way about half a mile along a worn, dirt path that cut through the outskirts of a pretty forest. Along the way, Ash had excitedly pointed out flocks of Starly and Staravia. Without a doubt, they were now in Sinnoh.

As they neared the pinnacle of a gently sloping hill, they gradually acquired a better and better view of Sandgem Town. In the relatively small establishment, there was more green than any other color, and a seemingly endless wave of trees served as natural defenders around its perimeter. In the distance, grand mountains ascended majestically to touch the skies. Simple streets were woven into the ground, and quaint houses dotted the land beside them. Children ran around gleefully, with or without Pokemon.

"It's… so pretty!" exclaimed May.

Brendan's eyes sparkled. The Diamond/Pearl/Platinum games had always been his favorite set, and now, he was actually in it. He smiled. He stooped to pluck a small pink flower from the ground, and reached to tuck it into May's hair. The brunette beamed at him. Grinning, she grabbed his arm and raced down the hill and into Sandgem.

"Hey, guys! _Wait_!" cried Ash, running after them with Leaf a few steps behind him.

* * *

After much asking for directions and gazing around at the cozy little town in general, they found the laboratory. It hadn't been overly difficult, either - it was the only building in the entire town with such a distinctly azure rooftop and walls consisting of such intimidating-looking metal.

The group looked up at the building as its shadow protected them from the sunlight overhead.

"So… do we knock?"

There wasn't really a chance for an answer to Ash's question, because right at that moment, the door swung open and a few figures appeared. They stepped out of the building, conversing.

There were three of them, noted May, and they were all boys. One was about her height, and he was laughing happily. He had a bit of a baby face, stunning topaz eyes, and slightly swept blond hair. A green scarf was wrapped around his neck, and he donned an orange-and-white hoodie and gray jeans.

The other boy was listening politely, and was a good six inches taller than May herself. His auburn hair spiked up in all the right places, and it resulted in a rather attractive hairstyle that complimented his angular face quite well. Underneath his sweeping white lab coat was a simple black shirt and violet cargoes, and around his neck was a smooth violet oval hanging from a silver chain. He appeared to have been simply walking them out, because he stopped no farther than a few inches outside the door.

The last of the group was the one who had apparently said something funny, and his navy eyes were laughing. Most of his hair was covered by some type of beret, and he was dressed in a white scarf, navy jacket, and black sweatpants as if he were going somewhere cold.

"Right then, I'll get more info on my Pokedex once I get to Snowpoint," said the third, dressed-for-winter boy. "See you guys later," he said as he mounted a Staraptor and began taking to the skies.

"You better be up there, Lucas! Or else I'm fining you one million dollars!" the blond hollered after him. He noticed Ash, Brendan, Leaf, and May watching him curiously, and he responded with a sheepish smile and polite wave. And with that, he too, took off on a Staraptor. "See you, Gare! Take care!" he shouted. "…Hey, that rhymed…" he murmured as he flew away.

The brunet left behind watched as the other two left while casually waving farewell. He then turned to the group before him with curious, slightly tired eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah… this is the lab of Sandgem, right?" asked Brendan.

"The one and only," replied the boy. "I- …Leaf?" he stammered, clearly shocked.

Next to her, May felt the brunette stiffen.

"You know each other?" asked Ash.

"Yeah… guess we do…" murmured the boy. "... Leaf?"

"What?" she snapped in a tone that seemed to be rather uncharacteristic of her, and reflected on a Leaf that was quite different from the Leaf that Ash, Brendan, and May had gotten to know in the past few days. It was curt, slightly aggravated, and filled with some sort of steely coldness that was not like the normal Leaf.

Ash, Brendan, and May watched warily as the two engaged in some sort of silent staring contest. They exchanged glances, and their facial expressions clearly conveyed to each other that every member of the said trio suddenly felt out of place and rather awkward.

The two stared each other down.

"…I still haven't forgotten, you know," he said softly, stiffly.

"Forgotten what?" asked Leaf wearily.

"What you did for me. I'm going to make it up to you."

"It was nothing, Gary. Forget it."

"That's a stupid suggestion." He then paused, as if contemplating his next words. "…You saved my life," he articulated slowly.

Leaf was quiet, but didn't look away from him.

"I'll make it up to you, Leaf," he reiterated quietly.

"…What happened to your necklace?" asked Leaf. "It's purple."

"I…" he began, obviously taken aback by the sudden change in topic. "…I don't know," he conceded. "I woke up and it was like this a little while ago... I didn't do anything, if that's what you're getting at."

Leaf eyed him warily, searching his eyes. "I see." She paused. "Why are you here?"

"I'm sure you of all people can figure that out easily, Leaf, if you connect a few dots."

Leaf nodded slowly, slightly. Her eyes were still hard.

"What're _you _doing here?" he asked.

"I'm accompanying them," she said, gesturing to the other three teenagers beside her. Gary's gaze flickered to them for a brief moment before going back to Leaf again. "If I'd known you were here, I wouldn't have come," she clarified sharply.

"Leaf," he nearly growled. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" she challenged.

"Stop…pushing me away. It's not really doing either of us any good."

Leaf snorted. "Yeah, alright, you _hypocrite_-"

Gary interrupted her with a heavy sigh. "You know damn well that, alone, you're not getting anywhere on this, and honestly, I'm not doing so great either. Maybe it'll be better if we give trying together a chance-"

"In _your_ words, _I'm _the one who saved _your_ life, didn't I?" demanded Leaf, her voice rising. "Clearly, I'm doing _just_ fine without your help-"

"Let's _not_ go over this right now, okay? Not out here? Or even where your friends can see? No offense," he said, looking over to Ash, Brendan, and May. The three quickly waved it off to signify that no offense had been taken. "We can discuss this over tea and crumpets, if that's what you really want," he added sarcastically.

"Great," replied Leaf, just as sarcastically. "Teatime with Gary Oak. It's what I've _always_ wanted, ever since I was… I don't know, _seven,_ wouldn't you say?" she said icily.

He didn't reply.

After that, the two lapsed into another staring contest. Leaf's brow was slightly furrowed and Gary stared back with a stoic, unreadable gaze. After a few awkward moments, Ash nervously cleared his throat, breaking the tension in the air.

"So, ah… if you wouldn't mind letting us into the lab…"

Gary tore his gaze away from Leaf to look at the boy who had just spoken.

"Oh… yeah. Sure," he said absentmindedly. "What's your business?" he asked while gesturing them in with a simple motion of his forearm.

"Just… a few questions. Is the professor in?" said Brendan as he made his way up to the brunet and took a few steps into the lab.

"He is," replied the brunet, holding the door open.

"Thank you," murmured May as she brushed past the boy and followed Brendan in.

When she looked over her shoulder, May saw that Ash was the next to follow. That, of course, left Leaf to be the last one to enter, as long as Gary continued to hold the door open until the entire group was inside.

She knew Gary was somewhere beside the doorframe and out of her line of vision. Leaf, however, was in plain view and she stood right in front of the doorway. She wasn't moving her lips, but it seemed like she was having another staring contest with Gary, her eyes slightly narrowed. Her arms were crossed across her chest.

In bewilderment, May couldn't help but wonder what relationship Leaf and the brunet had with each other. She couldn't help but analyze certain spoken words to allude to... potentially intimate past relations. A past romance gone wrong didn't seem to be too far-fetched of a hypothesis, mused May. Whatever connection they had, the two were obviously being intentionally cryptic about it while in the presence of May, Ash, and Brendan.

Actually, it was quite mysterious.

_Oh well_, thought May, shrugging slightly as she continued to follow Brendan past the entryway. _I'll ask her about it later._

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

And that's chapter 14 :) a little bit contestshippy, a tiny bit hoennshippy, a little oldrivalshippy/leafgreenshippy, and a whole lot of mysterious mess surrounding the last there

Thanks for reading, and reviews are much loved. :)


	15. The Waterfront

The interior of the lab was just as impressive as the outside.

For the most part, it was one large, spacious, cool-colored room. The walls were painted a light blue, the floor was tiled gray. Bookcases crammed with texts lined the walls. Elaborate, expensive-looking equipment and machinery filled part of it. Cabinets, desks, computers, stools, and racks of PokeBalls filled the other.

The far right of the room opened into a short hallway, which seemed to lead into some sort of rest area that was designed in a much more homely manner – the ground was wooden, a rustic red rug was sprawled, a fridge and sink occupied the corner, a coffee table stood in the middle, and comfy-looking armchairs dotted the room.

People dressed in white lab coats similar to Gary's bustled around the room. May counted about nine of them. Four were working with and observing a Chimchar in a corner of the room, and two seemed to be comparing notes of sorts. Another two were at the computer in the back, hovering over it as a third person typed something into it.

"Wait here," said Gary hastily as he turned to head somewhere into the back of the lab. "I'll get Professor Rowan for you."

Ash, Brendan, May, and Leaf waited a total of less than thirty seconds for Gary to come back. When he did, he was trailed by a somewhat gruff, somewhat elderly man. His hair was graying, he wore a dark brown trench coat over a blue sweater, black slacks, white collared shirt, and dark tie, and May thought his mustache was the coolest one she'd seen in a long time.

"Thank you, Gary. I doubt I would've ever received these youngsters had you not gone to the back and gotten me," chuckled the man.

The said brunet nodded, cast the group of teenagers one more glance, and turned to join the two assistants who seemed to have been comparing notes.

"Now," said Professor Rowan, turning to the group before him. "As you may know, I am Professor Rowan of Sinnoh. How may I help you?"

"I'm Brendan. These are my friends Ash, May, and Leaf," he said, gesturing to the respective people as he said their names. "We ah… have some questions… and we weren't sure where to start. We thought that the regional professor of Sinnoh was as good a place as any," he said, a tad sheepishly.

"Hm! Well, you certainly thought correctly. I'll do all I can to help."

Brendan grinned. "Thanks, Professor."

Professor Rowan nodded. "What say you to sitting down, first? I daresay you must've had some sort of journey getting here. Let's go back behind all this bustle to the rest area."

The man then turned on his heels, and began heading back the way he and Gary had come. Ash, May, Brendan, and Leaf quickly scurried after him to enter the rest area.

"Now then," he said, settling down into a soft maroon armchair near the center of the room. "What can I do to help you youngsters?"

Ash, May, and Leaf invited themselves to sit down in three of the other armchairs. Brendan opted to remain standing. "Ah, well, actually… guys, where do we start?" asked Brendan, laughing a bit.

"Well, for starters, Professor, you could tell us where you got these armchairs. I need to get one myself," joked Leaf.

Professor Rowan chuckled and replied, "You can just take one. I've got about ten more in the storage room… my back's been quite the pain lately."

"Pun intended?"

"Naturally."

The teenagers chuckled. "Alright, but really," began May, sobering up a bit. "Professor, what can you tell us about… the legendary Pokemon in Sinnoh?"

"Hm! The stars of Sinnoh's legends, eh?" said Rowan thoughtfully, stroking the edge of his mustache. "Well, I must admit, I'm not an expert on mythology… my studies primarily concern evolution. You'd be better off asking one of my former Dex Holders, in fact. She has quite the knack and interest in things like that – moreso than me, in any case."

"That's alright, Professor… we can just-"

"Now now, May, I won't say I'm _completely_ useless in the area," said Rowan with a chuckle. "I may be getting old, but I'm still knowledgeable. I also have contacts around the region. Now… did you have any legendary Pokemon in specific you wanted to know about?"

"What about Dialga, Professor? Or Palkia?" asked Ash.

"Ah… two of our central stars. I suppose I know quite a bit about those two, at least. What did you want to know?"

"Just… just general information. Like… for starters, do they even exist?"

"A decent question," said Rowan, nodding. "Well… To be perfectly honest, the existence of either Dialga or Palkia weren't wholly confirmed until only a few years ago, in fact."

"What happened a few years ago?" pressed May.

"Well… There was an incident," admitted Rowan. "Did you, by any chance, happen to see a boy roughly your ages with dark hair leaving the lab a short while before you came in?"

"Er, yeah… Was his name Lucas?"

"Indeed it is. A few years ago, at the start of his Pokemon journey, he ran into a few shenanigans concerning a few of the Sinnoh legendary Pokemon and an evil force who called themselves Team Galactic, who, to my knowledge, have since disbanded. His heroism forced him to travel through many cities, in fact. That particular adventure of his culminated at the top of Mount Coronet, where he encountered Dialga and Palkia themselves, along with the boss of Team Galactic. From what I heard, it was quite the ultimate showdown."

Ash nodded. "What else can you tell us, Professor?"

Professor Rowan frowned slightly. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much more beyond that, except that neither Dialga or Palkia evolve, or are related to evolution much, if at all. They are mysterious beings, even after we have confirmed their existence. I can, however, send you to a few of my acquaintances. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help a group such as yourself out with a few questions."

"That'd be fantastic, Professor."

"Right, then." Professor Rowan reached over to a small bookshelf by his armchair, pulled out a notepad, and retrieved a pen. He began scrawling something. "In Eterna City, you'll find one of my acquaintances. He resides in a small house – you'll find it easily, as it's the only one of such a structure near the statues and the beginning of the next route. His name is Professor Cypress, and he specializes in mythology.

"Hm… To help you further, in Canalave, I'm sure you'll find usage in their library. I believe that's also where my mythology-interested Dex Holder is currently temporarily residing. Her name is Cynthia. Should you happen to chance upon her, you won't miss her, so long as you keep an eye out for her lengthy blonde hair. If you happen to see either of them, tell them I sent you and that I send my greetings."

The group nodded, and May reached out to accept the sheet of paper Rowan was handing her.

"In your opinion, Professor, what's the quickest way to Eterna?"

"Hm…? Well…" began the man as he comfortably leaned back into his plush armchair, pondering. "To my knowledge, the quickest way is most certainly to simply head as north of here as you can, that'll take you to Jubilife, through Floarama, and at some point, turn east into the city… However, I suppose you _could_ make a premature east at Jubilife, through Oreburgh, and head north from there, although that slope may turn out to be a hassle without a bicycle…"

"Er… alright then, Professor Rowan. Thank you," said May, having not entirely caught the latter portion of the man's mumbling. "Would it be an entirely on-foot journey? Or is there faster transportation we can catch?"

"Hm, I _do_ know of a bus that will take you from here to Jubilife City," said Professor Rowan. "Whether or not you can catch a native or tour guide through Eterna Forest, however, is purely luck-based."

Ash and Brendan nodded slowly, trying to paint a picture of Sinnoh's western region in their minds from their knowledge of the games. "Alright… I think I know where we're going, May."

"However! The bus leaves tomorrow at precisely noon. You'd have to stay the night in order to catch it. To my knowledge, however, there _are _a few small motels in the area…"

"That won't be necessary," a smooth voice cut in. Every single participant of the conversation swiveled their heads to identify the newcomer.

It was Gary.

"They can stay with me tonight. For free," he said.

May and Leaf exchanged glances, the former aware of the latter's clear aversion to the brunet, however mysterious it was. Ash and Brendan appeared slightly apprehensive at the proposition as well.

There was a moment of tense silence as Ash, May, Brendan, Gary, and even Professor Rowan awaited Leaf's response. All eyes were on her.

Finally, the brunette conceded. "… Fine," she said, sighing.

A half-smirk made its way onto Gary's face. "Great. Meet me at the South Shore Diner at 7, that's when I'll get off work. Dinner'll be on me," he said coolly, and before anybody else had a chance to protest, he quickly turned and slipped out of the rest area and back into the heart of the lab as smoothly as he'd arrived.

May watched the brunet go, though her thoughts were lingering on their apparent decision to now head to Eterna City. Something about the city seemed... familiar, she mused. And it wasn't just because it was a city she'd known from the show or games, it was something that…

Of course, realized May. She would've smacked her face with her palm, had it been appropriate for the situation they were currently in.

_Drew said they were headed to Eterna..._

* * *

"So let me get this straight… You guys have met _Misty_?" Upon the vigorous nodding of Ash and May's heads, Gary's jaw slacked slightly and he once again reiterated, "_Misty_? Of _Cerulean City_? The gym leader?"

The group of five – Ash, Brendan, May, Leaf, and Gary – were currently enjoying dessert of rawst berry pie with a side of vanilla ice cream at the South Shore Diner. South Shore Diner was a quaint little place on the southern end of Sandgem Town, and only a stone's throw away from the famous beach of Sandgem. It was heavily decorated with warm colors, and it was built with tiled floors, glass windows, brick foundations, and wooden beams. The cozy booth the group was currently sitting at was littered with crumbs, small spills, and dishes and glasses galore. The time was currently a little past 8:30. All of their Pokemon happily ate their own food and played around with each other as they did so. Right now, only Pikachu was at the table with them and seemed to be flirting with the lone bottle of ketchup on the table.

"Yeah, why's it so hard to believe?" asked Ash a tad curiously and a tad offended at Gary's blatant disbelief.

"Well, Ashy-boy," began Gary wisely. In the past hour or so, the brunet had quite caught on to calling the raven-haired boy "Ashy-boy", much to the disdain of the said raven-haired boy. Ash scowled at the nickname. "Misty Waterflower happens to be one of my friends."

May's brow furrowed slightly as she tried to picture Misty and Gary acting like chums and hanging out. She could _sort of_ see it, she supposed.

"Why would Misty hang out with someone like _you_?" retorted Ash childishly, crossing his arms.

"Ash, are you jealous?"

"…N-no… why would I be? Misty's just…"

May and Leaf smiled knowingly at Ash, who was now stammering and turning pink. Brendan patted his best friend's shoulder comfortingly, saying how, despite impressions, Ash, you mean well.

The two brunettes giggled at the comment, knowing where Brendan was coming from, and the only brunet at the table smirked as he put the pieces together despite his limited knowledge. Ash frowned and shoved Brendan playfully, saying something about how Ash had blackmail on Brendan too, and that he should watch it if he valued his life.

When the laughter and prodding looks calmed down, Gary casually said, "Leaf?" His left arm was slung over the seat and his right hand's fingers drummed the table. "Take a walk with me?"

Leaf stiffened for a deliberate second before being shoved out of her seat by a winking May. Leaf glared at the girl, and mentally vowed revenge.

Leaf regained her balance, brushed off her clothes, and gave Gary a curt nod, though she didn't meet his eyes. The brunette turned and briskly stalked out the diner's glass door. Gary sighed, left the comfort of the booth, and quickly hurried after her.

When Gary stepped outside, he saw Leaf standing still a few paces away, waiting for him. Her back was turned to him, though, and she was gazing up at the night sky. Some part of Gary brightened slightly at this, the fact that she'd been waiting for him. That same part was quickly discouraged by the coldness in her eyes when she turned to look at him.

"C'mon," he said, walking past her. "Let's head down to the waterfront."

* * *

One of Sandgem Town's only attractions is also one that gives it its name. To the southern end of the establishment, a small beach opens up into water routes 219 and 220. The body of water will eventually take a trainer to Route 221, and at the end, to the Pal Park.

All things considered, it was a rather small area. The sand only stretched for about fifty yards along the waterline before being cut off by towering stone structures on either side. The beach itself was famous for its purity. It harbored white sand so clean it seemed to almost glow, even at night. Litter was carefully watched out for, and there was hardly a speck of it anywhere. The water was clean and lovely, and its navy depths reflected the light of the moon on its surface. Calm waves crashed softly down onto the shore. As far as Gary could see, he and Leaf were the only ones on the beach.

If it weren't for the hostility between Leaf and Gary, the setting would even be romantic.

Gary found himself gazing out over the water and into the invisible horizon, his mind already blanking from the beauty and serenity.

He was sharply forced back into reality by Leaf's slightly aggravated words of, "So? Why are we out here?"

Gary turned to face the brunette and looked down at her. She was still a good four inches shorter than him, he mused.

"Let's talk," he said simply, coolly sticking his hands into his front pockets.

Leaf studied him suspiciously. "About what?"

"Us. This."

"There's not much to talk about."

"C'mon, Leaf. There's plenty to talk about."

"No," said Leaf stiffly. "There isn't."

Gary ignored her. "We should work together."

"Work together?" Leaf stared blankly at him. The disbelief etched into her face was somehow a bit insulting, actually. "Did you forget how much we hate each other? Or are you just not right in the head in general?"

He smiled wryly. "My mind's working fine. And," he said, placing a hand over a spot near his heart, "-is working fine, too. And both of them are saying we should try going at this… together."

Leaf eyed his palm and the spot where it had been placed over. She scoffed. "A little sappy, aren't you?"

"Nah," he said coolly. "Just desperate."

Leaf watched the brunet warily. Her arms were crossed over her chest. "What are you saying?"

"I think it's time to try something new."

Leaf sighed. After a long pause, she finally said, "… Alright."

Gary was shocked, even though her agreement had been what he was aiming for. He hadn't expected to actually _receive_ it. "What? I mean… really?"

"Yeah," muttered Leaf, a bit begrudgingly.

Gary's mouth spread into a smile, his face lighting up like a child's on Christmas. "Really? You're not kidding?"

Leaf rolled her eyes. A smile began tugging at her lips, but she fought it off. "Stop while you're ahead, Oak. Don't wait for me to change my mind."

Gary flashed a smirk. "I'm already long gone."

"Does that mean we'll be leaving Sandgem soon, then? Well, more importantly, _you're_ leaving Sandgem."

"Yeah… I guess so," murmured Gary. "I'll… talk to Professor Rowan about that tomorrow. He's used to random leaves from his assistants."

Leaf nodded stiffly, her eyes now averted from Gary and focused on the sand beneath their feet. "Is that all you wanted to call me out for?"

"…Yeah, actually. To be honest, I hadn't expected you to agree so quickly…" He paused. "Want to head back?"

Gary saw the brief flicker of relief in the brunette's eyes as she nodded gratefully and turned to head back up to the diner, where warmth and protection from the chilly night air awaited.

On the way back, they walked side-by-side, each step in synch. It was cold enough that Gary sometimes see a vague puff of white when he exhaled.

"So," began Gary casually. "What's with those friends of yours?"

"What do you mean?"

Gary was blunt. "Why do they want to know about Dialga?"

"I don't know," replied Leaf honestly.

"They don't tell you?"

"I don't want to know if they're even slightly hesitant about telling me."

Gary nodded thoughtfully. "You're a considerate person, Leaf."

The brunette cracked a smile. "Wish I could say the same for you."

Gary chuckled. "Would you believe me if I said I've changed?"

Leaf sincerely mulled the question over as they trudged up the steps to the diner. "Only if you prove it."

Gary smirked. "Looks like I've got plenty of time for that."

"I won't wait forever, though," replied Leaf mildly as she reached the top step. She was about to reach for the door handle when…

"Wait… Leaf," said Gary, reaching out a hand to grasp the girl's wrist, effectively stopping her from moving any farther or going into the diner. The brunette swiveled her head to give him a confused and slightly shocked look, first eying the hand on her wrist and then looking up at him quizzically.

"What, Gary?" she asked softly.

Gary's gaze was steadfast and confident as his eyes met the brunette's. Despite that, he was unsure of what next to do or say. The action had actually been, well, spontaneous. His subconscious mind would reason that it was because he hadn't wanted her to go in quite yet, that he'd wanted to spend a little while longer with her outside alone, but of course, it isn't as if anybody actually listens to their subconscious mind (if they even could).

Despite his seemingly confident stare, his mind had actually stupidly blanked.

For a few seconds, an awkward silence fell upon the two. It was long, and it was tense. Leaf was about to make an effort to go back into the diner, seeing as neither of them were actually doing anything.

Then…

"…Out of the doubt that fills my mind," Gary began quietly, melodically – and a slight hesitantly. "I somehow find… you and I…"

Leaf's lips parted slightly in shock, and her eyes widened and flashed well before the last word, "…collide." She looked away from Gary, her line of vision now fixated on a pebble a few paces away. Her face became stiffer than before, her body tensed, and for whatever reason, her face colored slightly.

Gary's mind caught up with reality long after he'd sung the words. His own eyes widened from surprise and disbelief at his own actions. Gary swallowed nervously. Why-? ...He hadn't meant to do that…

In his confusion, Gary's grip on Leaf's wrist had loosened.

A moment later, Leaf took that chance to gently shake herself free of him. Still paralyzed from disbelief, the brunet hadn't resisted, and let her go.

Without so much as a second look back at him, Leaf turned and began to head back into the diner. She pulled open the door, slipped through the created gap, and let the door shut itself without leaving it open for Gary.

That left the teenage brunet outside, standing in the light of the diner's front doors. He watched her walk away from him, enter the diner, and he watched as her figure became smaller and smaller as she headed back to the table with Ash and the others.

Some ten seconds later, Gary chuckled dryly.

Well, that'd been awfully stupid of him.

Running a hand through his spiky auburn hair, Gary sighed. He hadn't done anything as stupid as that in a long time.

… Well, yeah, he mused, the words themselves were actually true and applicable to their situation anyways, but it didn't need to be in _those _specific words…

Gary swiveled his head to look back over his shoulder at the navy sky overhead, the heavens that were dotted by tiny flecks of light. They twinkled happily.

To the brunet, however, they were just laughing at him.

* * *

"Okay, spill," demanded May.

She and Leaf were currently in the guest room of Gary's cozily-sized house (well, not quite his – it was rented, and legally belonged to a pleasant old lady who spent her days in Twinleaf Town, an hours' journey from Sandgem.) Ash and Brendan, the gentlemen they were, had practically forced the girls to take the more luxurious guest room while they themselves would spend the night on the couches in the living room. Gary ended up staying in his usual bedroom (that he had offered, but all the other teenagers had insisted that he keep it). This setup gave May and Leaf plenty of time for the former to grill the latter on the conspicuous and speculative events of the day.

The two were comfortably sitting on the considerably large bed, May in a criss-cross-applesauce position and Leaf slouched against the wall.

"About what?" said Leaf innocently.

May rolled her eyes, but her mouth split into a grin anyways. "You know! What's with you and Gary?"

Leaf shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, May."

"Okay, well… start with how you know him. What's your relationship?"

"We're just… childhood friends. That's it," replied Leaf blandly.

May frowned, dissatisfied. "I have childhood friends too, and we don't take the 'if looks could kill' thing as seriously as you guys do."

Leaf sighed. "Something happened a few years ago, and it's kind of ruined our friendship since then, and well, I…" Leaf trailed off.

"You…?" pressed May, leaning in closer.

"I don't really want to talk about it," mumbled Leaf, pouting slightly.

May was clearly disappointed by her answer, but backed off anyways. "Okay," she said. She decided to go for another angle. "What did he pull you out to talk about earlier at dinner?"

Leaf fidgeted a little. There was a short moment before she responded as she carefully worded her thoughts. "He just wanted to ask me to travel with him," she said, shrugging again as if it were no big deal.

May gawked. Clearly, there was plenty going on between Leaf and the brunet that Leaf wasn't telling her. "And what'd you say?"

"I… said yeah," said Leaf. Then, a tad sheepishly, she added, "I'm sorry, May, but…"

"You won't be coming with us anymore," finished May, a bit sadly. "Well, it's a shame, I need another female with me," she laughed. "How's anyone going to be able to put up with Ash and Brendan singlehandedly?"

Leaf grinned. "They're not that bad, trust me, I've seen worse."

"Oh, Leaf, Arceus bless your soul," said May sarcastically.

Leaf rolled her eyes. "Okay, May. Okay… so, your turn. Who were you texting so happily at dinner on the PokeGear?" she said, traces of teasing in her tone.

"Well, I was texting Misty for a bit before she had to go… and then I texted Drew," she admitted.

Leaf blinked. "Drew? Who's that?"

"He's an arrogant spinach brain Brendan and I met before we met you… he's a coordinator," said May, "But we're not really friends."

Leaf's nose wrinkled and she peered at May inquisitively, an amused expression plastered on her face. "So then why do you talk to him?"

"To remind him of that fact, of course."

Leaf laughed. "Seriously, May."

May grinned. "And to tell him that we were probably going to run into each other sometime soon in Eterna."

"He's there?"

"He will be, soon, along with his traveling partners."

"Bet you're excited about that, aren't you?" teased Leaf.

"A little, yep!"

Leaf's brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "…Didn't you just say you weren't friends?"

"I-…" May pondered the question, thinking of how to form her answer. "No… we're not," she began slowly. "But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to like him, right? Er, n-not like that," she stammered upon seeing Leaf's skeptic look. "As in… he's decent…?"

Leaf rolled her eyes. This girl. "If you say so, May."

May frowned slightly and stared at the pile of neatly folded blankets beside her. They _weren't_ friends… right? She'd already reasoned a couple of days ago that they weren't quite rivals, yet weren't quite enemies, because they had no reason to be.

To be honest, she'd willingly consider Drew to be a friend – they'd had enough somewhat civil conversations for her to think so, at least - but the only thing holding her back was that she wasn't sure what the boy thought of _her_. After all, she'd never quite met someone who sent such mixed signals, and who was she to prematurely decide who she was to someone else? She'd only be embarrassed later on if she wasn't ri-

"May? Did you hear what I said?"

The said brunette's head snapped up. "Huh? Oh, sorry, Leaf… What'd you say, again?" she asked sheepishly.

Leaf smiled goodnaturedly. "I said, 'Do you want to go raid Gary's refrigerator?' "

May immediately brightened, and she immediately sat up at full alert. "Yes!"

Leaf chuckled. "Alright, let's go!" she said, climbing off the bed and heading for the hallway.

May eagerly followed behind, pushing all thoughts of Drew to the back of her mind in the process. She'd think about him later.

After all, food takes precedence over boys.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Oh May, you silly, silly girl :')

And a liiiittle bit of foreshadowing - but the good kind, really. ;)

..and as always, reviews are much loved!


	16. The Surprises

With a start, May's eyes fluttered open.

She sat up, and put a hand over her heart in a futile attempt to calm it. Her face felt clammy, and her breathing and heartbeat were both accelerated.

She'd just woken up from a dream, and a bad one at that… But now, as she scrunched her face in an attempt to recall it, she couldn't quite remember what it was. May frowned. All she remembered was a large, dark, non-humanoid figure… or was it a small, dark, non-humanoid figure? In any case, it'd lunged at her… or something like that.

May racked her brain, willing it to recall the nightmare, but it simply refused to. She didn't remember anything beyond it. Sighing slightly, she gave up, and instead directed her attention to her surroundings in an attempt to forget what her subconsciousness had conjured up.

She was somewhere in a very woodsy area, and she was in a sleeping bag sitting on the forest floor. She shared the makeshift bed with Eevee, who was curled up beside her and snoozing quietly. A few yards away lay Ash and Brendan, the former of who was curled up in another sleeping bag (and Arceus knew where he had obtained it, too) and the latter of who was draped with a moderately thick blanket and sitting against a tree.

May smiled slightly, recalling her first night spent in this world. It'd been on a route, too, and Brendan had slept against a tree too, and she'd been buried in the same sleeping bag as she was right now.

May looked up, and despite the masses of towering trees and leaves darkened by the night, she could still see the gorgeous deep navy sky. Like every other night in this world, it was picture-perfectly dotted with a sea of glittering stars. A small smile crept onto the brunette's face as she recalled that certain phrase, "_Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land amongst the stars,_" which, of course, reminded her of Drew and Solidad and Harley.

Which, in turn, reminded May that she, Ash, and Brendan were scheduled to arrive in Eterna sometime the next day.

Well, it's technically already morning, thought May. _So then, today…_

A few butterflies began dancing in her stomach at the thought of seeing that trio again. They weren't nervous or lovesick butterflies like the clichés were, oh no, they were just… butterflies excited at the prospect of seeing a few friends again... Right?

These thoughts ran through May's mind. May pursed her lips when she realized that she was feeling rather alert now, and that the blood and organs in her body had been shocked into functioning from her dream. It'd probably be a while before she was going to be able to relax herself enough to get back to sleep…

She reached out an arm to pull unzip the sleeping bag and gently pull herself out.

Except… she couldn't feel anything?

In the darkness, May couldn't see very well, but she could still tell that she was moving her arm and that it should've been in the vicinity of, well, _matter_. But her hand felt nothing, even as she relaxed her entire shoulder and arm so that it should've been lying on the material of the sleeping bag…

May swallowed nervously, and she felt her heartbeat begin to pick up.

This was _not_ normal.

_Okay, calm it, May. It's probably just… a dream. Yeah that's it, a dream._

Except, well, she knew it wasn't.

May didn't move. Seconds passed. Finally, she gathered the courage to flex her fingers again and press her hand into the ground/sleeping bag again…

Relief washed over her as she felt the familiar taffeta lining again, never having been so…_ relieved _to be able to feel a sleeping bag…

But apprehension and worry was now knotted in the pit of her stomach.

Those few moments just now just reminded her of the salad bar incident back in Vermillion City, the one she had brushed off as due to her terrible hand-eye coordination. There were similarities, and freakishly so…

Frowning, May finally succeeded in quietly zipping open the sleeping bag a few moments later and began shifting to stand up and leave the confines of the sleeping bag, making sure not to disturb Eevee in any way. She'd… ponder this later.

She found her shoes nearby and easily slipped into them, ignoring the aches and groans of her calf and thigh muscles as she moved. So far, the trio had been walking non-stop everyday from dawn to dusk since they left Sandgem Town, which had been three days ago. They caught buses and transportation whenever they could, but they'd also become increasingly aware of the decreasing weight of Misty's gift of her "pocket change".

_My legs are probably going to look_ really _good by the time this is all over._

Yawning silently, May stretched her limbs. Despite the soreness, it felt good as her blood began moving even more. She decided she'd stretch a bit more, maybe have a few bites of the berries and snacks they had bought when they'd been passing through Jubilife City.

Grinning, she made her way over to the cluster that was their backpacks. Even in the dimness, she quickly found her own, as the bright neon yellow of the fabric made itself very distinguished. She unzipped the front pocket, retrieved a granola bar, and ripped open the packaging.

As she ate, May realized with a start that today was already the eleventh day that they'd been in this world. That was a week and a half… her stomach twisted at the thought of how worried her family probably was, or her other friends, or even the school… perhaps even the town. She wryly wondered what sort of headlines the newspapers had come up with.

Now slightly depressed, May tossed the wrapper back into her backpack, promising to throw it out into a proper garbage can later. She protectively crossed her arms around her body – she'd suddenly gotten chills and goosebumps from the unpleasant thoughts.

Deciding that there was now not much left to do, May was about to turn in again for the night (or morning). She was, once again, wrapped up in her thoughts when she heard a rustling sound to her left.

Her eyes immediately darted to find the source of the sound, as she hadn't felt any sort of breeze or wind that would explain it. Plus, it'd been loud and concentrated to one bush.

Tentatively reaching back into her backpack and fumbling around for her phone, May perked her ears again to listen for more sounds. Her paranoia was now beginning to get the better of her, and she heard her own heartbeat accelerate as her mind conjured up worst-case scenarios.

There it was again. Rustle.

And again…

And… was that a low growl?

_Is it a Pokemon?_ she wondered, her iPhone now in her hand. She grabbed Beautifly's PokeBall too, just in case. With one hand, she unlocked her phone and scrolled through the menu screens until she found an app called "Flashlight", which basically turned on the flash for eternity (well, until somebody exited out of the app or the device ran out of battery).

Hesitantly, May stepped closer to the source of the sound. Coupled with the fact that a nearby bush was ominously shuddering, she assumed that that was its hiding place.

She crept up to it until she was only about two feet away. May swallowed. Then, on a leap of faith, she pushed up the bottommost twigs and leaves and shined the light from her phone into the base of the bush.

She wasn't quite sure what she was expecting – maybe a hideous blob or something, or a mysterious black hole, or maybe an angry dwarf brandishing a dagger at her…

But, she supposed, the dirty, scratched, bruised, vulnerable-looking little orange-yellow chick was probably one of the last things on her mind.

The two stared at each other for a while.

It was pretty awkward.

… _I'm having a staring contest with a Torchic._

"Hey, cutie," May cooed quietly, reaching out the hand that wasn't holding her phone. "Will you come with me?"

The Torchic wearily stared at May's hand before backing up and breathing a few weak flames in symbol of its distrust and defiance. May immediately pulled her hand back.

The brunette frowned. "What happened to you?" she whispered.

The Torchic responded by doing nothing more than cowering back further into the bush.

May watched as the small Pokemon retreated, clearly deathly afaid of her. To be quite honest, she would've left it alone if it wasn't so badly injured. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. "Wait here," she told it, though she doubted it even had the energy or well-being to go anywhere else.

May retraced the few yards or so she had crossed back to their backpacks, and after digging through Brendan's a bit, found a whole Oran berry. Grinning, she stealthily tiptoed back to the bush with the Torchic, making sure to not disturb Eevee, Ash or Brendan.

She crouched down again next to the bush and shone the light into the base again, revealing the still-cowering Torchic who stared back at her distastefully. She placed the large fruit on the ground and gave it a gentle shove. It rolled slowly for a short distance before stopping right in front of the Pokemon.

The Torchic eyed the food, its gaze shifting back and forth between it and the girl who had just given it the berry. Hesitantly, it inched up to the fruit and gave it an unsure nibble.

May smiled as the Pokemon quickly began wolfing down the food with as much fervor as its little beak could muster.

* * *

She woke up to an incessant jabbing to her side and Brendan's voice saying, "Er… May? There's - what I _think_ - is a Torchic… on your… next to… you…"

"Brendan?" May yawned. "What're you talking about?" murmured May, slowly opening her eyes until she saw enough of a small yellow-orange feathery ball next to her to startle her so that her eyes were now open wide. The Torchic was still asleep, oblivious to the ongoing surrounding events. The brunette propped herself up onto her elbow, blinking from shock and confusion.

From somewhere a couple yards behind her, Ash asked, "May…? Uh… did anything happen?"

"Ahh…" Squeezing her eyes shut, she began recalling the night's events. "I woke up…" - there was no need to inform them of her little dream - "And I went for a snack…" – Brendan snorted – "And I heard a noise in a bush and… I found this… Torchic… and it looked really scared and hurt and it wouldn't let me near it, so I gave it an Oran berry and went back to bed..."

"I'd say it ended up a bit less than scared," commented Brendan.

"No, really, it was, like, practically hissing at me last night and telling me to go away, if it could. I don't know what happened..."

"So… does this mean you get to keep it?" wondered Ash out loud.

"Er…" May stammered, looking down again at the slumbering Pokemon who was practically cuddling with Eevee. "I-I don't know… I guess I'd have to see what it thinks, don't I?"

She frowned slightly upon noticing the number of scrapes, cuts, and spots of rustled feathers and dirt and Arceus knows what on the Torchic's body. Dry blood speckled and ran down the length of the Pokemon's side. She hadn't realized the Pokemon had so many injuries last night… Then again, it'd been dark.

"Don't you already have two Pokemon?" said Ash teasingly. "Share some with the rest of us."

May turned her head and grinned at the raven-haired boy, who was busying himself with the task of packing up their things to leave soon. Inside, May was confused – had she really overslept so late?

"Did I miss breakfast?"

"Nah," replied Ash. "We were waiting for you."

"Oh… you guys shouldn't have!" said May sheepishly, suddenly feeling bad. "You should've woke me."

"Eh, you looked comfy."

"Hey," came Brendan's voice right as the brunette was about to say something else selfless.

May's eyes flickered up to look at him as he crouched down beside her to study the Torchic. His eyes were fixated questioningly on the Pokemon.

"Why's it so… hurt?"

"I don't know," said May truthfully. "It was like this when I saw it last night… though I didn't know its condition was _this _bad," she said wryly, giving the Pokemon's body another quick look-over.

"Are the Pokemon in this area this brutal?" murmured Brendan, shifting his eyes to accusingly study the bushes and forest around them with an apprehensive gaze.

"If they are, then we've been lucky," said Ash. "They haven't bothered us… heck, we haven't even _seen_ any, aside from this Torchic."

"Yeah… we haven't," said May, her brow furrowing. She then paused, and for a moment, neither her, Brendan, or Ash spoke. "… Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

May frowned.

"Exactly."

Ash came over and crouched down on the other side of May, making sure to not step on the sleeping bag with his shoe.

"I think I follow… but elaborate, anyways."

"No bird sounds," said May simply.

"Or Pokemon sounds, for that matter…" muttered Brendan. His eyes were narrowed again as he looked down at the Torchic, clearly deep in thought. "Now that I think about it, I didn't hear any Pokemon last night, either. Maybe it's… just this route?"

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"A route that wards off Pokemon?"

The corner of Brendan's mouth tugged down.

"Irony at its finest, right? Well… It'd save money as far as Repels."

May was quiet as she took in what had just been brought to their metaphorical table. Her face scrunched in thought as she reached out to gently stroke the asleep Torchic's feathers, wincing at the mats of dried blood and dirt.

_What happened to you?_

* * *

"Civilization!" exclaimed Brendan.

The trio had just exited Eterna Forest after a few long hours of seemingly endless wandering, despite the fact that they had had a map. It was already sometime near twilight, and the sky was beginning to dim into orange-reddish hues. All that separated them from the city was a calm, flat, wooden bridge that seemed to be a popular fishing spot, judging from the number of orange and red-clad men with fishing poles and coolers.

Ash groaned upon the sight of fisherman after fisherman. May quietly noted that many of them seemed particularly peeved, as if nothing was biting today... something that kept in line with the mysterious lacking of Pokemon on the route they had spent the night. Face slightly scrunched from concetration, she was brought back to reality by Ash's words of,

"You know, this feels a bit like déjà vu… except I know _exactly_ where I've lived this before."

Brendan smirked.

"Yeah, just keep your head down, maybe the guy with the six Magikarps won't find us."

"It's funny because I was always the one who went looking for him," said May mildly as she strode in the direction of the bridge.

In her backpack, she felt Torchic stir a little. The little Pokemon had eagerly agreed upon Ash, Brendan, and May's proposal of going with them, May having gained its wholehearted trust.

Ash and Brendan made a face.

"_Why_?"

Shrugging, May replied, "The experience always boosted you up at least a quarter of a level."

Taking this thought into consideration, Ash and Brendan trailed after the brunette as they crossed the bridge. Despite her words, May still made sure to not look and make eye contact with any of the fishermen, just in case they did follow the "if-our-eyes-meet-then-thus-we-shall-battle!" honor code in this world.

Some sixty seconds later, the trio were officially within the perimeters of the city – and instantly, they somewhat regretted it.

"What's with- …all these- _oof_, sorry ma'am, excuse me… _people_?" hissed Brendan after politely apologizing to a middle-aged woman for accidentally stepping on her shoe. "Hey, let's try to stick together…"

"Hey, wait, guys - aren't we going against the flow of traffic he-" said Ash before getting cut off by someone shoving into him.

May would've facepalmed in realization if she had the room to do so.

Oh, geez.

After about twenty or so seconds of shoving and relentless pushing against numerous other bodies later, May was able to escape the crowd and ended up on an uphill blanket of grass to the side of the endless stream of people.

Catching her breath against a lamppost, May frowned. Honestly, why all the people? What was…

Oh, thought May as she noticed that most of the people in the crowd were teenagers and kids slightly younger and older than herself.

_That partners contest…_

… _Is it really this big of a deal?_

She was shaking her head a little in disbelief when she realized something else.

Where was Ash and Brendan?

May paled as her heartbeat began accelerating. They did _not_ separate. Oh no. No no no no no no… not in this crowd, in this huge city…

"Guys!" she called. "Ash! Brendan?"

She pursed her lips, realizing that even if they were still around, they wouldn't be able to hear her over all the noise and chatter. May blew out a frustrated breath.

Not _again._

May bit her lip. What was she supposed to do _now_? Unlike the first time, when she had fallen into Petalburg, she at least _knew_ that the guys were near. Would it really do that much good to go out and journey for them?

Maybe not, she thought. Sighing, the brunette slid down into a comfortable crouching position against a lamppost, her legs welcoming the relief. She'd stay here for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes maybe, in case the guys decided retracing their steps was a good idea. If they weren't reunited in the next half hour, May would go to the Pokemon center to search for them, thinking that was the logical place to go (and their next destination). Then, she could ask Nurse Joy if they'd passed through or reserved a room.

In the meantime, though, there was nothing she could do but wait.

* * *

May had been absentmindedly staring at a rock nearby, no thoughts running through her mind, when a pair of crimson boots entered the left side of her peripheral vision and deliberately stood facing her.

The brunette furrowed her brow, thinking those boots seemed familiar… she looked up, and lo and behold, her suspicions were confirmed as she placed the fashionable trench coat, skirt, coral hair, and pretty face to a name.

"Solidad!" she cried in astonishment.

"May," began the older girl, smiling as she looked down at the brunette. "It's nice to see you – though here, of all places… and alone."

Solidad's eyes twinkled with a sort of bemusement. May huffed.

"Yeah, I got separated from Ash and Brendan a little while ago…" Then, she remembered what the presence of Solidad suggested. She peered around the older girl's legs, and gave their surroundings a quick study. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she said, "Are Drew and Harley…?"

"Yes," replied Solidad, catching the general drift of May's question. "They're not with me, though. I suppose we're a bit alike in that sense - abandoned by our two male companions."

May laughed lightly. "Something like that."

Solidad smiled and extended a hand. "Want to come with me?"

"Where are you going?"

"To the contest hall to sign up - it's right next to the Pokemon center. Speaking of which…"

May blinked, but accepted Solidad's hand and raised herself off the ground. Sixteen minutes had already passed – it was probably time to assume that Ash and Brendan weren't going to retrace their steps back to May. Starting her search for them at the Pokemon center was as good a place as any. They began walking with Solidad leading them. "What? And… isn't it a partner's contest?"

The light was back in the older girl's eyes. "Yes," she said. "And well, May, I hope this doesn't come off as… startling, but... would you be my partner for the contest this time around?"

May's step slowed and she blinked at Solidad. Had she heard right? "I… you- what?"

"Would you be my partner for the contest?" reiterated Solidad, continuing to walk with as fluid a grace as ever. She looked back casually at the now flustered brunette.

"I-I'd be honored to, Solidad, but why… why me?" wondered May. "Wouldn't you have a higher chance of winning with Harley… or Drew?"

"Not necessarily... Drew is a wonderful coordinator, but our styles clash too much for us to work well together in battle, as we've learned in the past." She laughed. "And well, Harley may have more experience than you, but it seems you have a very special natural talent, May. Of course, if you don't want to, that's alright… I'm sure you have your own non contest-related reasons for being in Eterna, anyways."

May's ears pinked. What a compliment. "Yeah, we've caught a lead here, in Eterna. But…it'd be my honor, Solidad."

"No, May, it's _my _honor," replied the older girl.

The brunette smiled shyly. Then her face fell. "Wait… when is it?"

"In two days," Solidad replied. Upon noticing the younger girl's sudden apprehension, Solidad frowned slightly, and said, "Is that a problem?"

"N-no… at least, it shouldn't be…" murmured May, shrugging. Then she split into a grin. "If it is, I'll force the guys to let us stay for another day."

Solidad smiled. "Sounds good."

They then walked in silence for a few moments before May spoke up again to break the silence. "… So how've Drew and Harley been? I messaged Drew a bit a while ago, but we haven't talked since then."

"Good as ever," said Solidad, shrugging slightly. "And, you know, he talked about you."

"Who? …Harley?"

Solidad turned to look at May, a smile dancing on her lips as she wasn't sure if the girl was kidding or not. By the brunette's serious expression, she wasn't. "No, May," she said, almost exasperatedly. "Drew."

"…Drew?"

Solidad nodded, her eyes now focused on the hullabaloo in front of them that was the streets of Eterna City. "We always talk a lot about coordinators we've noticed at recent contests or, according to the magazines, ones that might be threats, or just whatever's bugging our minds." She paused. When she spoke again, her eyes were very much amused, though her smile was still politely kind. "A while ago, we were talking... and at some point, he started in on you - you and _only_ you."

May was now very much intrigued as they crossed a busy intersection. "… Me?" she ventured. "What'd he say?"

"Mostly ranting... He said it was just beginner's luck that you got so far in such a difficult contest, and that you were just lucky enough to obtain the powerful Pokemon that you did." Solidad chuckled at May's dejected expression. "He also said that your combination and appeal ideas were 'okay', and that you were 'somewhat decent' when it came to battling and thinking on your feet, which basically means that he was actually pretty impressed by you." She then paused momentarily to throw May a comforting smile. "Trust me, May, to anyone else or even you, it probably would've come off as cold. But it's his way of caring, and he's... never done so much of it for someone like you, who we've just met."

"I can't tell if I feel complimented or not," laughed May nervously.

An unexplainably bemused expression came over Solidad's face. "Trust me, it's definitely a compliment."

A shy smile overtook May's lips, and the brunette was about to say something, but she was interrupted by Solidad's words of, "We're here."

Closing her mouth, May looked up at the structure in front of her. It was a tall white structure garnished with leafy green spirals and designs – no doubt by the influence of the town's Grass-type gym.

Well, that'd been a pretty fast journey. And, sure enough, next to the hall was a red-roofed, glass-walled Pokemon center.

"I didn't know it was so close," mused May as she followed Solidad in through the automatic glass doors. The interior of the Eterna contest hall reminded May very much of the interior of the Rustboro hall, albeit with a greener color scheme and more potted plants. It still retained the same elegant air, although this lobby was significantly bigger than the Rustboro one.

"The best things in life are usually pretty close to us," said Solidad lightly.

"I can't tell what that's supposed to mean," admitted May apprehensively.

"Nothing much, really," said Solidad mildly (though a knowing smile graced her lips), walking up to the registration counter. She gave the woman manning the desk her contest pass, and when May found her own after digging through her backpack, gave the woman hers too. It was also formally established that the two girls were each others' partners for the contest.

As they waited for the woman to scan their passes and type things into her computer, May's eyes wandered. The hall really was beautiful, she thought. Much more Victorian than the one at Rustboro's… While looking upon the lines of and clumps of other partnerships waiting their turn to register, the brunette's gaze fell upon one particular pair of girls who were only a few spaces behind her and Solidad in the next line over…

Her breath caught in her throat.

That cobalt hair… and white knit hat… and black vest, fluffy pink skirt…

And the girl next to her, with dirty blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail, navy skinny jeans, gray cardigan...

No way.

May had _not _been expecting this.

"June?" she whispered, already moving over to the two conversing girls whose backs were facing her. She walked as if in a daze. "Dawn?" she ventured, a bit louder.

The two stopped talking and turned to face May. The brunette's heart almost stopped as she recognized their faces – it really _was _them…!

A sharp intake of breath. "Oh my God… May?" breathed Dawn.

May nodded, mute. All she could do was stare.

"Oh my God… May!" exclaimed June, bounding to engulf May in a very, _very_ tight hug.

Dawn squealed, and May could feel the extra pressure as the blunette embraced both her and June.

Behind her, May heard Solidad's voice say, "Friends of yours, May?" in an amused and knowing tone.

"Yeah," said May, emotions running through her. Relief, happiness, joy… "I can't believe it… I found you guys! What happened to you? Why are you guys here? As in why- why are you here at the contest hall-? I mean, even in Eterna, in general..."

"One at a time, May," said Dawn, laughing. "June and I just got here, like, yesterday, and we just decided to do the contest-"

"-because yolo-"

"-and just… yeah. Just because. If we'd known it would've brought us to you…"

Another stupidly large grin split across May's face. "So you guys are doing the contest too? That's… that's great! Oh my gosh… Just wait until Ash and Brendan know…"

"Ash… Ash and Brendan are with you?" stammered June. "Oh my God, _where_? This… this means that we're all together again! This is..."

May beamed. "Absolutely incredible..."

* * *

A quick peek into the neighboring Pokemon center from outside had told May that the two boys were standing near the door, clearly distraught over the fact that they had, quite literally, lost May. Her face split into another grin as she pushed open the glass double doors and the two boys' faces filled with relief as they saw her. Then their faces had frozen in shock as they comprehended the meaning of the two (well, three including Solidad) girls trailing her.

Now, the group of six was sitting in a cluster of lounge chairs in the Pokemon center lobby and desperately trying to catch up and freak out and still absorb everything that had just happened.

According to June, she had landed on her butt somewhere in the middle of Goldenrod City, a large metropolis in the Johto region. Quickly realizing that it was going to be difficult to get by in this world without a single Pokemon, her metaphorical butt had been saved by a Pokemon professor who had been passing through the town whose name was Professor Elm. He'd kindly given her a Chikorita and a PokeGear. After that, she'd set out to wander. Along the way, she battled random trainers on routes and caught another Pokemon, a Pidgeotto. Her wandering had eventually taken her to the Sinnoh-Johto border, where she had literally run into Dawn.

Dawn had also landed on her butt, and ended up in a little place called Twinleaf Town. She'd been taken in by a nice woman and nursed back from shock for a short while, and soon after that, had been given a Piplup by the region's Pokemon professor, Professor Rowan, when he'd been down for a visit. One day, she was finally leaving the town and heading to Jubilife City when she literally bumped into June. The two then made their way to Jubilife, and met a guy codenamed Looker... He had mysteriously told them (well, more like mutttered) something about how he swore _they _were coming back if they hadn't already, he could feel it, and it was something huge, even bigger than last time... After exchanging wary looks, the two had then made their way to Eterna, and the rest was history.

Ash, Brendan, and May then all shared their stories about their own painful landings, Pokemon acquisitions, people they'd met, lands they'd crossed...

As May listened to Brendan recount May's contest in Rustboro, the brunette couldn't help but smile as she gazed upon her circle of friends, still hardly believing that all of them were back together again, and that whatever happened from here on out was going to happen to all of them _together. _

And despite the... _mysterious_ things that had been happening lately, at that moment, May didn't think she'd rather have been anywhere else.

Of course, now that she, Ash, Brendan, June, and Dawn were all congregated, a small, sly smile curved the edge of her mouth as the brunette realized that she couldn't decide whether that was a fantastically good thing... or a recipe for disaster for their surroundings.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Er ma gehrd mysterious happenings :o

Er ma gehrd Solidad's talk with May ;o

Er ma gehrd the gang's all back together again!

..and er ma gehrd this chapter was late

where I am, it's still 11:45 as I post this, so... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, guys! :)


	17. The Expeditions

Extremely peeved that her so-called _friends_ hadn't bothered to wake her up to go with them, May found herself semi-stomping out the Pokemon center's front doors, her water bottle angrily gripped in her left hand. Her goal was the water fountain that, for some reason, most Pokemon centers seemed to have outside.

She'd woken up that morning to nothing but silence in the room she had spent the night with June and Dawn in. She quickly realized that the reason was because she was alone. A quick sweep of the room found her a note that had been left on her nightstand.

"_Hey May!_

_You refused to get up when we tried to wake you, so we ditched you. If we're not back by the time you read this, then know that we're off with Ash and Brendan to breakfast downtown. We're also going to try to find Cypress's house and talk to him, if we can. Don't try to look for us, you'll get lost and cause us worry. (that was Brendan) We'll be back soon, you lazy bum._

_-June&Dawn"_

Some friends.

After fuming a bit over the betrayal, May had changed into her daytime clothes, brushed her hair, teeth, rinsed her face, and headed out the door in hopes of a distraction until her _friends_ came back.

As the stream of water gradually filled up her water bottle, her mind was boiling with ways she could go off on them when they got back. The mental mini-rampage was interrupted when, out of the corner of her eye, the brunette noticed something very… well, noticeable.

There, on top of the Pokemon center's roof and leaning against the metal railing that ran over the side, was Drew. The sight came as a bit of a surprise to the brunette, considering this was the first time she had actually seen him in the flesh since they parted ways in Vermillion.

His chartreuse hair swayed ever so gently in the wind. His eyes were clear, sharp, and focused as ever, yet distant. His lips were pressed in a tight line.

Although his body and face were facing in her general direction, he didn't seem to have noticed May at all. His eyes and attention were clearly preoccupied with the white, lidded, plastic cup he held in his hands. Then again, perhaps he just happened to be looking at the coffee cup and his thoughts were actually somewhere else? After all, his brow was lightly scrunched in concentration – the most frustrated expression he could make.

May wanted to know what he was thinking so hard about. Nobody thought that hard over coffee.

So, naturally, she went back into the Pokemon center, found the stairwell, and ascended it.

* * *

When May opened the door that opened up into the rooftop, she was a bit relieved – except for Drew (who still didn't seem to have noticed her), there was nobody else there. She quietly crossed the dozen or so yards separating them until she was only a few feet behind the boy himself.

"Drew?"

He didn't jump, nor did he show any clear indication of having been startled. However, when he turned his head around to take a look at the person who had called his name, May saw the surprise in his eyes. She assumed he had been expecting to be alone up here, accompanied by only his thoughts.

He nodded curtly before turning his head back around and looking out over the rooftop again, the opposite direction of a conversational position with the brunette.

"May."

"Hey," she said, smiling timidly. "It's been a while."

"About a week," he said, shrugging. He paused before continuing, "What's up?"

"Not much. You?"

Shaking his head, he echoed, "Not much."

"How's the coffee?" she asked casually, taking a few steps forward so that she was at the railing as well; mimicking Drew, she put her weight against the cool metal by placing her forearms on it and shifting forward.

"It's alright."

"Why're you staring at it so intently?"

He turned his head to give her an odd look – surprised, suspicious.

"What?"

"You've been staring at it for a while," May accused. "Wild guess… Solidad?"

Drew blinked exactly twice, clearly taken aback. He said nothing as he cast his eyes away from the brunette again, now practically glaring at the cup, as if it had betrayed him somehow.

"… How'd you know?" he muttered, disgruntled.

"Wild guess," she reminded teasingly. When he gave her an exasperated look, she caved and laughed. "Alright, well… Let's put it this way. The only two things in the world that you'd think that hard about are coordinating and, well, Solidad."

The corner of Drew's lips pulled down. "That's... not…"

"Relax, Drew. Trust me, you're pretty difficult to read," she reassured. "Just not to me," she added lightly.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I… I'm just good at reading people," she stammered.

There was silence for a moment. May awkwardly shifted her weight onto her other foot; at this rate, she wasn't sure how to keep the conversation going.

In a desperate attempt to resurrect the conversation, she hesitantly began, "In Vermillion, after you guys left, I… I thought about you."

Drew turned his head once more to look at the girl. His expression was that of amusement, confusion, curiosity…

"Were they good thoughts?" he finally asked.

"Ah- come on! Of course they were!"

"Tell me about them," said Drew, a sly smile twisting the corner of his lips.

"Er, well…" she began, glancing at and making eye contact with Drew for a brief moment before turning away. "I… I thought about how good you were at Pokemon, and if I'd ever have enough time to get myself that good while I'm here… and… I thought up more insults for you and your hair." At this, Drew made a sound somewhere in-between a snort and a chuckle. May took this as a good sign and continued. "And at one point, I wondered if I was ever going to see you again… and Solidad and Harley, of course."

Drew nodded thoughtfully. He turned his head away from her and looked out over the railing at the city.

"Well, I'm honored."

"Are you… weirded out? I didn't think about you _that_ much, it was just a couple of times when my head wandered…"

"I'm sure your head would wander a lot if it weren't attached."

As the double meaning of Drew's words sunk in, May glared at him.

"Funny," she deadpanned. "I forgot to laugh."

He smirked.

"I'm not weirded out," he said calmly, turning the focus of their conversation back to where it had been. "…Not after some of the things I've heard my fans scream out to me."

"What fans?"

"They say things like 'Drew! I sleep with a voodoo doll I made of you every night!' and 'Drew! I found a lock of your hair and I put it under a cloner I made and now I have a whole head of your hair!'" he said, mimicking the girly voices of his fans and ignoring May's jest.

May couldn't stifle the laugh that rose from her. He watched her with amused eyes.

"Think it's funny, do you?"

"A little," she admitted.

"It's not nearly as funny when you're the one it's happening to."

"Oh, I don't know about that – I'm pretty impressed with the whole DNA cloning thing. I'm surprised that an actual clone of _you_ wasn't made, though I'd hate to have more than one olive brain running around trying to make fun of me."

Drew chuckled. He ran his free hand through his hair, though each lock immediately bounced back into their respective places.

"Actually, I missed you a bit, too."

May was surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth. At first, she thought she misheard. Drew, certainly, wasn't the type to say stuff like that.

"Why?" she wondered. And as shocked as she was, she still calmly followed up – rather wittily, she thought – with, "And I didn't say I missed _you._"

"You might as well have. Everyone does," he said, ignoring the glare he began receiving from the girl.

"Drew, you're too cocky for your own good," declared the brunette.

"You're too airheaded for your own good," he replied casually.

"What _position_ are you in to say _I'm _an airhead?!" demanded May.

"What position am I _not_?"

"Ugh!" groaned May, straightening up and crossing her arms. "Here I am, coming up here, trying to have a _civil_ conversation with you and _trying_ to avoid arguments-"

"Because of that," he said abruptly, interrupting her.

Okay, now she was confused.

"What?"

"That."

"'That' _what_?"

He turned to look at her.

"That's why I missed you," he said easily, smiling loftily as he did so.

May could've sworn her heart skipped a beat as she took in the way his eyes sparkled mischievously, his mouth curved upwards, and at the way his very _being_ clearly reveled her blatant confusion that resulted from his cryptic statements. She brushed it off as… being a result of the breeze that'd just picked up. Yeah.

"What?"

"I'm answering your question from before – 'why'."

May cocked her slightly in confusion. Her brow furrowed.

"Huh?"

Smirking, he said, "You're the only one I can talk to like this."

"Like… what?" ventured May.

"Like how we do."

"How- …what do we do?"

"Don't you think you know?"

"No. You confuse me."

Playfully, Drew sighed. Smirking once more, he coolly said, "Figure it out yourself, Maple."

Scowling, May muttered, "Or you could just tell me."

"Nah. So where're your friends?"

The brunette pouted at the way he so decisively changed the direction of the conversation, but went along with it nonetheless.

"They… left me," she muttered under her breath.

Chuckling, he taunted, "Left by your own friends. Do you know how that sounds?"

"Stuff it, Drew," snapped May.

Still chuckling, he continued, "So what are you planning to do today?"

May frowned slightly as she sincerely pondered the question.

"Well, the others are off to talk to a professor specializing in myths and legends because we think it might help us somehow, so that leaves me… a while. I guess… I guess I could check out the library here… they probably have some good information on things like that, right?"

"Probably," said Drew. There was a pause. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Ah-" stammered a surprised May. "You don't have to, it's okay-"

He shrugged her off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"It's alright, I don't have anything better to do today. I'll meet you in front of the center in five."

And with that, he walked away, one hand stuck in his pocket as the other casually tossed the plastic cup into a trash can. May watched him go.

…_What just happened?_

* * *

"'ey… d'you really think we should've done that?" asked Brendan.

"Do what?" said Dawn, though she was more obviously focused on trying to fix a lock of her hair.

"Leave May like that. I mean… she's probably worried."

"Pft, May? Worried? It's more likely that Dawn and I get back to the room and find it trashed out of anger," said June mildly. "Besides, we left that note."

"Hey, guys, I think this is it," said Ash, abruptly changing the topic.

The group of four looked up at the structure in front of them. It was a quaint little blue house that was no more than two stories in height. Windows dotted the front, a chimney stuck out from the roof, and a pleasant wooden door served as the entrance. In other words, it looked quite normal.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash.

Immediately, the group exchanged wary glances. Nervously, Ash reached for the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed. When they saw the door give without a struggle, the teenagers exchanged another look.

"Hello?" Ash called tentatively.

The other three peered over his shoulder into the building to see a dimly lit interior, a sofa, a TV, numerous bookshelves, a _lot_ of clutter, and a mountain of fallen texts and hardcover books on the floor.

There was silence.

Then the pile of books sneezed.

From the mountain emerged the top half of a human male. His glasses were askew, his chestnut hair was messy, and a sheepish look was on his face.

"Oh, man… not again…" they heard him mutter.

"Er… hello?" said Dawn.

This time, the young man's attention was caught by the four teenagers at the door with inquisitive looks on their faces.

"Oh, hello! Don't mind the mess here…" he laughed, stepping out of the pile and brushing a few manuscriots off his shoulders.

The four chuckled nervously.

"Er, yeah… hey, are you Professor Cypress?"

At the question, the man straightened himself up to his full height and brushed off some dust from his jacket.

"That's me," he said proudly. "How can I help you?"

* * *

May and Drew had left the Pokemon center about ten minutes ago, after May had gone back into her room, left a note for the others, grabbed her bag, and rushed out the door. After a bit of direction-asking, Drew and May were currently walking to the only library in Eterna City.

"So, are you entering the contest?"

"Yeah, I am," mumbled May, her eyes suddenly downcast.

Drew caught this sudden shift in mood. He peered curiously at the brunette, who now had a somewhat uneasy expression on her face.

"What is it?"

"Huh?" said May as her head snapped up and her eyes shifted to look at Drew, who was studying her rather intently. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

There was a pause. May squirmed under his gaze, wondering what on Earth could've betrayed her. Finally, as if satisfied, Drew looked away, a small smile on his lips. There was another moment of silence before he spoke.

"You're still holding on to your loss to Solidad, aren't you?"

"W-what?"

"That means you've discovered your weak point," he continued airily as they crossed an intersection. "But now I'll bet you're not feeling too sure about what you can do to overcome it..." He glanced up at her again, the small smile beginning to evolve into a tiny smirk. "Tell the truth, am I close?"

"Hey, what makes you think I'm upset about a loss to Solidad?" snapped May. "It's not like I'm actually a coordinator, anyways."

Drew flicked a front lock and ignored her, continuing, "Just because you're not actually from around here doesn't mean you can't have hopes for a Pokemon contest and your own coordinating abilities, you know… even if you're just doing a few for fun."

May frowned. How had he known…?

"And if you think you can be upset just because you lost once at that contest in Rustboro, think again. You know, you're surprisingly not that bad of a coordinator. All you have to do is find a style."

May smiled and gave him a side-long glance.

"Was that a compliment?"

He shrugged lazily.

"I don't know, was it?"

Smiling and meeting his eyes, she murmured, "Thanks, Drew." Then she averted her gaze and looked up at the structure in front of them. "Hey, we're here!"

* * *

"Ahhh… the legendary Pokemon of Sinnoh, eh? Well, Rowan certainly sent you to the right place," said Professor Cypress. "What can I tell you about?"

Despite all the clutter, the group managed to end up with some sitting space, though June and Dawn were two to an armchair and Brendan had remained standing. Ash had to make do with a small wooden kiddie chair.

Ash grinned.

"Let's start with Dialga and Palkia."

"Ah… the beings of time and space," said Professor Cypress wisely as he reclined in his chair. "Since you come from Rowan, I assume you must've heard about the accomplishments of one of his Dex Holders?"

Ash and Brendan nodded, though June and Dawn looked confused.

"Basically, a guy saved Dialga, Palkia, and the world from an evil organization," explained Brendan to the girls.

"In a nutshell, yes," said Professor Cypress, nodding. That was the first in recent times that anybody's seen those two, and so far, perhaps the only _officially_ documented occasion. Both are… deeply revered deities by all of Sinnoh, and it seems that both are, at least, of the dragon-type, though I suspect that both have a secondary type as well.

"Palkia's very existence symbolizes and may even _be_ that of space itself. Legend says that space grows more stable with its every breath, and I don't doubt it. It is certainly a creature of phenomenal power, and I'm blessed for it to have visited Earth in my lifetime. Dialga is its counterpart, and it has complete control over time. Legend says it can slow, speed up, or stop time, period, and I don't doubt that either. It seems to be every bit as powerful as Palkia."

Here, the Professor's voice lowered, "You seem like good kids, so I'll tell you something that Rowan told me about the incident concerning his Dex Holder. When the boss of that organization – I think Cyrus was his name – sought to take over the world, he created a… a _chain_ from the head crystals of the three beings of lakes, Uxie, Azelf, and Mespirit. His Dex Holder – Lucas – confided in me the details of when he was infiltrating their headquarters, and from what he told me, it was all truly sickening… but when Cyrus brandished it at Mount Coronet, Dialga and Palkia appeared. Both were enraged… and completely out of control." His voice morphed into a snarl. "Once he realized that it wasn't possible to obtain what he wanted, he simply left Lucas to pick up the pieces and fight those poor Pokemon. He won, of course, or else Arceus knows what Sinnoh would be like now, but…"

He straightened and cleared his throat.

"Anyways, that's all we know that is confirmed of the two. Certainly, there are many myths and legends bubbling around, but I wouldn't believe every single one you hear if I were you."

The professor paused for a moment, as if debating whether or not to say the next words on the tip of his tongue. Apparently, he decided he would, because the professor then leaned in to the kids and lowered his voice again to murmur, "And, so far, the two make up the 'creation duo' of Sinnoh. Of course, it is believed that Arceus was the supreme creator, but most people don't include it in that term. But if you ask me… I'd say it's more of a trio. From the texts and research I've done lately, there seems to be… a _third_ being.

"From what I've learned from the stories I've read, it seems to live in… an alternate _dimension _to ours, if you will." At the word, every single teenage ear in the room perked up. "It seems to symbolize everything that is opposite of life as we know it… though, for some reason, the ancients seemed to avoid speaking or writing its name, as if it were… as if it were some sort of curse. It seems to have been… banished by Arceus, thousands of years ago.

"All information I've learned of it comes solely from texts that are thousands of years old and ones whose credibility may be questionable, but… I appreciate a good challenge."

The Professor frowned before continuing, "And, actually, lately, there've been reports of… mysterious happenings and… strange things popping up all over Sinnoh. Pokemon acting strange, certain routes being deserted… There've even been a few reports that a new gang, like Team Galactic – the one that caused the mayhem with Lucas, may be silently emerging.

"I don't have any proof, but I have the strangest feeling these events are somehow related to Dialga and Palkia - and maybe even the third Pokemon. I can't be sure, but something's happening… something big. If it _does_ involve those three Pokemon, then it must bear resemblance to those events with Lucas a few years ago, perhaps even similarities… And if my gut's right, it'll be bigger and involve more people and Pokemon than last time."

Brendan swallowed and realized that his heart was beating faster than normal. He – and the other three as well, he reasoned – had a very strong feeling they knew which certain Dragon/Ghost Pokeon the Professor was talking about, and he could confirm some of the "mysterious happenings" himself.

Despite the fact that he had a feeling they already knew the answer, he still asked, "What's its name, Professor?"

Professor Cypress smiled wryly.

"Giratina."

* * *

May groaned softly as she stirred.

As her body slowly came back into consciousness, she realized that her arm was numb from her having slept on it.

Blinking open her eyes, May recalled her location. She'd come to the Eterna City library with Drew, and she was sitting at a wooden table with numerous books about mythology and Pokemon surrounding her. By now, from what she could see, the building seemed to be rather empty, with the exception of a few people still browsing and some employees cleaning up for the night. Also, judging by the transparent glass ceiling overhead, it was night already…

She sat up with a start.

It was already night.

_Oh my gosh, where's Drew-?_

She quickly glanced around the library in search of the boy, desperately hoping he hadn't left her. There was no way she would be able to get back to the Pokemon center by herself in one piece, especially not at this time of day.

Her fears were quickly subsided by the slumbering figure of the chartreuse-haired boy in a seat next to her. His face was turned to the side and serene, and his head lay in the crevice created by his arms that were crossed on the table. A book titled "Strategies of Coordinating" lay next to him.

May smiled softly.

So he hadn't left her after all.

But something about him seemed different. She couldn't quite place it, but…

It was then that the brunette noticed something fabric-y around her shoulders. She tugged the material off of her back and brought it in front of her, inspecting it. She realized with a start that it was the signature purple jacket Drew so often wore. Glancing back at Drew, she realized that all he was wearing for a top was a long-sleeve black shirt.

Draping the jacket back around the boy, she whispered a quiet, "Thank you."

Turning her attention back to the pile of books in front of her, May frowned. It was probably late, and the others were probably worried.

But, she thought as she glanced back at the boy next to her, she couldn't wake Drew _now_, not when he seemed so… _content_.

A glance at an analog clock told her that it was a little before 7PM. So, they'd been here for six hours, eh? And so far, all she'd found was a bunch of general information she already knew about Dialga, Palkia, the three beings of lakes. Printed in a book in a language she couldn't understand had also been a roughly drawn picture of Sinnoh with circles around the locations of the three lakes, with a fourth circle around the general area of Mount Coronet.

She blew out a breath. Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes of book searching, and if she didn't find anything, she'd wake Drew up and head back.

Two hundred and thirty-eight seconds later, May was gawking at the book in her hands in disbelief.

_How_ had she _not _realized it before?! It was so _obvious_!

_How could I consider Dialga and Palkia_ _before thinking of Giratina?!_

Of course, the book hadn't actually said the name Giratina, specifically. It was actually pretty vague – all it'd said was that it was theorized that there may be a third Pokemon to go with Dialga and Palkia, but, well, still. May didn't need a book to tell her what she already knew.

Giratina.

There was no way the Renegade Pokemon _wasn't _somehow involved in their situation; the themes just _fit_.

The question, now, was _how_.

In her excitement, May hadn't realized that she'd shut the book – and excruciatingly loudly, at that - until she earned a few looks from the other occupants of the library, to which she had responded with a quiet "sorry" and sheepish grin.

It'd been so loud that it'd also woken the boy next to her.

Stirring, he grumbled something under his breath.

"Sorry, Drew!" whispered May excitedly. "But I think I've got something!"

"Good for you." Pulling out his PokeGear from his pocket, Drew muttered, "Are you ready to go back now?"

May nodded.

"Hey, Solidad said they're at that outdoor restaurant behind the contest hall," he said, flipping the device shut. "Do you want to go?"

"Yeah," said May, practically beaming. "I need to talk to Ash and the others."

* * *

Actually, Ash, Brendan, Dawn, June, Solidad, and Harley had finished their meal a while ago, and were now simply loitering in a conscious effort to allow May and Drew to catch up with them. Solidad had announced about five minutes ago that Drew had sent her a reply of, "_Yea we're on our way." _The group had unanimously decided to wait for the duo to arrive, which, they reasoned, shouldn't have been for much longer. They had set aside two plates of food for when the pair arrived, knowing that at least _one_ of them would be starving.

In the meantime, however, the group of six was able to easily kill time simply by talking.

As a particularly animated discussion about the political differences between the video game, TV show, and real-life versions of Elite Fours trailed to a close, June cleared her throat and said to Brendan, "Hey, want to go for a walk?" to which the latter had replied, "Sure," as he stood up.

* * *

They had gone no farther than five steps outside the library entrance when May began, in a conversational tone, "So… Solidad, huh?"

Drew shot her an incredulous look.

"Let's not talk about this," he muttered.

May smiled innocently.

"How's it been going between you two lately?"

"You talk as if we're in a relationship."

"Aren't you, though?"

Even in the darkness illuminated only by the streetlights overhead, May could see Drew's cheeks begin to burn as he hissed, "Not a _romantic_ one."

"Could've fooled me." At Drew's aggravated scowl, she laughed and quickly said, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" She smiled. "I think it's sweet how you're holding back on your feelings for the sake of your friendship."

* * *

"So," began June once they were out of earshot of the other four, and were slowly heading in the direction of the contest hall entrance. Grinning tauntingly, she asked, "Spend a lot of time with May lately?"

Brendan's eyes narrowed, though any intimidation effect was contradicted by the growing blush on his ears.

"No," he said a little too quickly. "I mean, yeah, but… well…"

"Hey, come on. Where'd heartthrob, cross-country star Brendan Yuki of West Riverwater go?" She playfully punched his shoulder. "All I see is some shy dork who didn't seize an opportunity when it was roundhouse kicking him in the face."

Brendan scowled, though he couldn't prevent the small smile that pulled up the corner of his mouth a moment later.

"He got left behind somewhere back home. Shame, isn't it? There's a lot of pretty girls around here."

"And, ladies and gentlemen, he's back!"

Brendan rolled his eyes.

"Funny."

There were a few unexpected moments of silence as June didn't reply. Brendan passed her an incredulous look.

"June?"

A few seconds later when she spoke again, it was low and deathly quiet.

"… Don't look now, but I think someone's following us. 5 o'clock."

Alarmed, Brendan's eyes quickly and casually flickered over his right shoulder. Sure enough, there was a figure there, walking the same slow pace as he and June were, though the figure was alone. Whoever it was, they were clad in dark colors and blended in with the shadows. The face was hidden due to a hood and the forward angle at which their head was tilted. The only things that gave the figure's presence away was teal hair spilling from the hood and the light coming from the streetlights and contest hall.

"Just act normal," hissed June. She then raised her voice. "But seriously… ever plan on telling her, you big dork? I mean, if you passed up such a great chance… Honestly, Brendan, you were practically alone for an entire week."

"No, we weren't," he immediately corrected. "Everything always just happened so quickly, and there were always people with us… Hey, don't give me that," he said, upon noticing the girl's exasperated glower. "I did _kind _of confess to her on the first night, though…"

At this, June immediately perked up.

"Continue."

Brendan laughed dryly.

"Well," he began, peeking over his shoulder to search for their stalker again.

Although slightly relieved, his brow furrowed slightly when he realized that the figure wasn't there anymore. He turned his attention back to June, making a mental note to definitely bring it up for discussion with everyone later.

"We set up the sleeping arrangements, and then we just started talking about stuff…"

* * *

Drew snorted. May frowned.

"What's so funny?"

"Honestly, May. I can't just go up to her like that and confess that I… that. You're less sensible than I thought – and that's saying something."

"Hey! Now _look here,_ mister…" began May threateningly.

Drew smirked when she didn't continue.

"An empty threat? As expected of you, May."

May looked flustered, though she immediately steered them back to their original topic of conversation.

"I'm _not_ going to let you distract me from this, Drew," she huffed. "Nobody messes with May's Matchmaking Expedition!"

He raised an eyebrow.

"'May's Matchmaking Expedition'?"

The brunette grinned and formed an "L" shape with both her hands, put one on top of the other to create a rectangle, and then held it up in front of her with Drew inside the shape.

"Today's episode: May Helps Shy-"

"May, you're embarrassing yourself."

"-_And Rude_ Coordinator Confess to Super Talented Coordinator Crush! Stay tuned, folks!"

Drew rolled his eyes. May grinned, but put down the fake camera lenses.

"But really, Drew. Why won't you tell her? If you've already felt this way for years, then I think you're pretty set as far as making sure of your own feelings."

Drew shrugged, though May could tell that his shoulders were still tense even after the action. She watched as he looked away.

"Afraid of rejection?" she teased lightly.

"Yeah."

His response was so curt and serious that May was, for a brief moment, taken aback. She wished she could see his facial expression right now, but his face was deliberately turned away from her.

In the end, "Oh," was all she managed to say.

* * *

June was hitting his arm.

"Are-" –slap– "-you-" –hit– "-an-" –claw– "-idiot?!" she demanded. "You are _honestly_ the _only _one I know who just _goes up to someone_ and says 'oh, yeah, I like you… Joke! It was last year. Hahaha.' Brendan, why would you _lie_ like that?"

"It was an accident, alright! It- it just… it slipped! And besides, how do _you_ know I didn't like her then?"

June slapped her forehead with her palm, muttering, "You _told _me you still liked Sapph at that time…"

Sapphire Odamaki was a tomboyish childhood friend of Brendan's, one of his best friends, and up until last year, the object of Brendan's minor affections, despite the fact that she didn't attend West Riverwater. The first time they'd met her, the group hadn't neglected to point how similar May and Sapphire's face structures were. The similarities ended there, though - their hair colors, hair styles, eye colors, styles, and personalities differentiated drastically.

Brendan blinked.

"Oh yeah."

"But I don't understand… why'd you cover it up? It was the perfect chance… Brendan, you _know_ you've been wanting to tell her for forever. And, honestly, in the end, I'm the one who has to put up with all your 'woe-is-me-the-most-handsome-and-athletic-Romeo-that-ever-lived' anyways-"

"It just…" Brendan's face contorted as he wrestled with his words. "It wasn't the right time."

* * *

"I just don't feel like it's the right time," said Drew stiffly.

"Drew, what's the worst that could happen?"

"I hope that wasn't an honest question, May, or I really will start to question your sanity."

May frowned.

"Fine, Mr. Pouty-pants." She paused before continuing, "But, Drew, you know… Life's too short to dwell too long on uncertain things. Sometimes, it all comes down to just… a leap of faith."

* * *

"Y'mean something like yolo?"

"Yeah, except yolo got stupid when everybody started overusing it," snapped June. "But you get my point, right?"

* * *

Drew exhaled an aggravated sigh. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Okay, May – what if I said that I'd… _do_ something that would… _reflect_ on some sort of _affection_ I have for… her?"

May studied the boy with distrusting eyes and carefully enunciated, "I don't like the way you worded that…"

* * *

"…but I suppose it'll have to do," muttered June. "Do I get to know what it is?"

* * *

"No," replied Drew swiftly.

* * *

Rolling her eyes playfully, June asked, "Will I ever _get_ to know?"

"Just relax..." said Brendan, smirking.

* * *

"…If I'm successful, you'll find out," he drawled.

May narrowed her eyes, but she smiled a moment later, anyways. "And if you're not?"

* * *

"Just know that I'll… _talk…_ to her sometime soon, okay?"

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

hmm ;) stalkers and impending drama and mythology oh my

So one thing I want to establish is that I personally have not established where the games/anime/manga influences start or stop.. And with that, let me say that the Lucas arc (as I'm sure D/P/Pl players know well) includes the events of bothDiamond _and_ Pearl, but_ not _Platinum, and therefore, Giratina's arc/Distortion World never happened. Of course, I'm not a _total _unoriginal dork, so I'm building an original story/side to the whole thing, too.

Next, Sapphire. Not May, and for the sake of my story, looks different than her (not that she'll be more than a small character.) Imagine her with no bandanna, blue-gray eyes, and shoulder-length hair let down, if you have to.

Also, the last line there was said by both Drew and Brendan, if you couldn't figure that out/thought it was only Brendan saying it. (I have always wanted to write one of those scenes, the whole completing-each-others'-sentences-at-the-same-time thing is so awesome in movies/TV shows :'))

thanks for reading, and please review? :)

Btw, if any of the lines sounded familiar (especially a few of May/Drew's), they most likely are. I was on a huge contestshipping episode marathon a few days ago. (;


	18. The Garden

Drew listened as the bubbly brunette next to him gushed off about things – Pokemon, pick-up lines, romance cliches, and so on and so forth until she eventually went back and began rambling about a combination of the three. ("I think I need a Paralyz Heal... because you're stunning.")

He found himself shaking his head in disbelief yet smirking, rolling his eyes only to follow up with a lighthearted, snide remark about her naivety, and snorting at her wild suggestions and swooning but not being able to help thinking how nice it must be to always be so steadfast and positive anyways…

May had been making a retort ("For all we know, love is the most powerful thing and motivation we could ever know!") to Drew's comment ("There are more important things in life than love, May.") when Drew's amused smirk froze.

…_How_ did he get to be talking about _romance_ with_ May_?

He was _Drew Hayden_, and she was only a girl he'd met, what, a week ago?

He had always chosen his friends, his Pokemon, his words, and his battles carefully. He'd never talked about stuff like this with anyone before… though, in a corner of his heart, Drew knew he'd always valued the whole concept of love. Deep down, he might even be a romantic.

On the surface, though, he was stoic. He always had been. Drew Hayden just doesn't talk about things like love.

So how had she let his guard down?

The "she" in question was oblivious to the frown currently tugging at his lips and the small crease forming between his eyebrows.

Drew wasn't an idiot. Unlike other people, he was always alert of his surroundings as well as himself. He knew what was happening, but it wasn't something he _wanted_ to happen.

At least, right now, the bud was still small. It wouldn't be too difficult for him for to try to cast it away. No hard feelings. And anyways, he thought as they neared the outdoor restaurant, there was already another bloom he bore. One he'd nurtured for years now.

Tonight, he wasn't going to pluck that particular bloom to see whether or not it would live. Contrary to the brunette's urging, he was going to take a subtler, _quieter _approach. Honestly, he wouldn't even be taking it at all if she wasn't so _incessant._

He was going to play it cool.

Nothing big was going to happen tonight.

* * *

"Hey, guys," chirped May as she took a seat in-between Ash and Solidad. Silently, Drew sat down at the only other available seat, the one at the opposite side of the table from May.

"Why do you always have a tendency to be late?" wondered Brendan innocently.

May childishly stuck out her tongue at him and retorted, "Not _always_!"

"He's got a point, though. Here, May," said Dawn as she slid a plate of fries and spaghetti across the table to the said brunette.

Ignoring the comment made at her expense, May's eyes lit up and she promptly dug into her now cold food without another word. Solidad pushed Drew's plate in front of him in much the same way, and though with less fervor than May, Drew began to eat and pick at his food as well.

Brendan watched as the brunette began to eat, and then started, "On a more serious note, we went to Cypress's and talked with him today."

Evidently over her anger from earlier this morning, May nodded and swallowed the pasta in her mouth before saying, "Hey, yeah. Listen, I _really _think it has something to do with Giratina."

"Funny," cut in Ash. "That's what we got, too."

"What else did Cypress tell you guys?"

Ash, Brendan, and Dawn shrugged.

"Not much," said June. "I don't think he was trying to keep anything from us, but… he just doesn't know much, I guess."

"There _was _that bit about weird things happening, though," speculated Dawn. "Do you guys know anything about that?"

"Yeah, actually," replied May and Brendan simultaneously.

The two exchanged sheepish glances before Brendan shifted back in his seat, evidently giving May the stage.

"Well," began May. "The night before we arrived in Eterna, Ash, Brendan, and I were camping out, I woke up in the middle of the night to find a Torchic in a bush, and it was _really _hurt. It's with Nurse Joy right now," she said hastily upon noticing a few of the looks her peers were giving her. "Anyways, the other weird thing was that we didn't see or hear a single other Pokemon on that route."

"You know, honey bunches, I noticed that too," said Harley, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "I've been looking for a cute new Pokemon to add to my team before this contest, and the route up to the forest was one of my last chances. I really didn't notice _anything_, let alone something adorable."

"So I guess while we're on the topic of summarizing everything weird that's been happening to us…" began June a tad sarcastically. "While Brendan and I were walking just now, I swear there was someone… _following _us. Like, stalking."

Widened eyes and a few choruses of "are you serious" went around the table.

"A-are you okay?" stammered May.

"Yeah, we're fine," replied June with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. "It was just creepy."

"Describe them," said Solidad.

"Well, I mean… it was dark," she began slowly, her eyes flickering over to Brendan in a blatant call for help.

"It was dark," reiterated Brendan. "But whoever it was was wearing dark clothes, so it was even harder to see them. Navy hoodie, black pants, all that jazz. I didn't get a get look at their face either, because I guess they were deliberately trying to hide themselves from us… Wait, June? Wasn't their hair…?"

"Oh yeah! They had some weird light blue, teal-ish hair. You could see it because it was cut kind of long, and it was all layered and down, too. Actually, it kind of…"

"Kind of sounds like Team Galactic's signature," finished Dawn.

May shot the blunette an admiring look; if there was one person at this table who knew the Diamond/Pearl/Platinum games or Sinnoh region inside and out, it was her.

"Team Galactic?! You mean that team of baddies that tried to create _mayhem _and _chaos_ a few years ago?!" shrieked Harley.

"Yeah… the very one," said Dawn. "Didn't they disband after that last incident, though? It wouldn't make sense if they were the cause of all this… Would it?"

"Hey, wasn't their headquarters here in Eterna?" said Drew quietly, speaking up for the first time since he and May had arrived.

Silence followed his words.

Half of the teenagers at the table gawked at the green-haired boy while the other half wordlessly mulled this over. May was one of the former, and she found herself staring at Drew, subconsciously noting the way his eyes were closed, his arms were crossed, and his body position in general was just so relaxed, despite the way his brow was slightly furrowed...

"The building's still there," murmured Solidad quietly.

May's head snapped to look at the coral-haired girl. Shock and a tinge of worry now filled the brunette's eyes as she tried to ascertain what Solidad was suggesting.

"Let's not jump to conclusions here," said Brendan hastily. "We don't even know if that building's still in use, or if Team Galactic is even still together."

"History always has a tendency to repeat itself," muttered Ash.

As May absorbed Ash's words, suddenly, she found that she wasn't feeling hungry anymore. Instead, a squeamish ball of nerves seemed to have filled her stomach. Frowning slightly, she pushed the half-eaten plate of spaghetti and fries away from her, signaling that she was done. A few pairs of eyes turned to look inquisitively at her, surprised that the usually hearty girl had eaten so little.

"Well," began Dawn, standing up. The blunette inadvertently stole a leftover fry from May's abandoned plate before saying, "I think now is a good time to just call it a day. Let's head in and just sleep on everything."

There was a scraping of chairs as a chorus of agreement sounded. June, Dawn, Ash, and Brendan were the first ones to leave. May had been delayed in her exit because she had turned in the opposite direction to throw out the plate and leftovers.

She headed back to the table they had formerly been occupying to the sound of, "Uh, Sol? Can you stay a bit? I need to talk to you."

May's eyes darted to the coral-haired girl as Solidad responded with, "Sure, Drew. Harley, you can go ahead of us; we'll catch up with you later."

May watched as Harley nodded and happily skipped away in the direction that her friends had gone. She felt the looks of Drew and Solidad as she herself passed by them. Solidad's was polite as a kind smile gracing her lips. Drew's was skeptic and a bit exasperated, as if he was trying to tell her "happy?".

A grin splitting across her face, May winked encouragingly at Drew before following after the others and finally giving the two coordinators some privacy.

* * *

"Well?" Dawn immediately began the moment she, May, and June stepped foot back into their room and shut the door. Given that she was staring directly at May, her question was obviously aimed towards the brunette.

May, upon noticing this, raised an innocent eyebrow and nonchalantly asked, "'Well' what?"

"What's with you and Drew?" pressed Dawn eagerly.

May laughed out loud as she crossed the length of the room to her bed. Falling onto her bed, she bemusedly said, "I don't follow."

"Don't play dumb with us, May," warned June as she copied May and hopped into her own bed.

"I honestly don't know what you two are talking about."

"So that's how you're going to play?" mused Dawn, a wicked glint in her eye. "Well, two can play at that game… so let's start easy. What'd you guys do today?"

"Nothing," replied May easily, unabashed. "We just went to the library."

"You were gone for hours – the entire day, even. And it was _only_ the two of you," speculated June suggestively.

Glaring at her friends, May huffed and said, "Maybe if _some_ people didn't _leave_ me here to die alone..."

"Hey now, we tried! Right, Dawn?" said June, putting her hands up in surrender as Dawn nodded in agreement. "The next step would've been frying pans. We even poured water on you as a last attempt."

Gawking, May muttered, "So _that's_ what the wet spots were…"

"What'd you _think_ it was?" asked Dawn, giggling.

May stuck out her tongue when June joined in with the laughter, but the brunette ended up grinning anyways.

"Anyways, back to the point," said June, sobering. "You were gone for _hours_, and Solidad couldn't get a hold of Drew at all."

"His PokeGear was probably off," said May, shrugging. "We fell asleep for a bit, too…"

"…Oh."

Dawn and June's faces reflected blatant disappointment. May laughed.

"Why do you guys think there's something going on between me and Drew?"

"I mean, it's kind of a shame for there not to be, May," chuckled June.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said May suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.

"First of all, you were pretty giggly and flirty with him when you were walking towards us earlier, and you gotta admit-"

"I was _not _flir-!"

"-he's really hot," finished June, ignoring and interrupting May's interruption. "Sue me, but he even gives Brendan a run for his money."

"Seconded," chirped Dawn. "Sorry, May," laughed the blunette upon seeing May's despondent expression. "But you can't look me in the eye and tell me you don't think Drew's attractive."

Glaring at a spot on the wall, May muttered, "I don't think Drew's attractive…"

"Hey, she wasn't looking you in the eye!"

"Yeah, May, come on! It doesn't count if you don't look at me," mocked Dawn as she threw a pillow at the brunette.

May plucked the pillow off her face to reveal a dissatisfied frown. She glowered at Dawn as she threw the packet of down back at her. As the pillow made contact with Dawn's face, May crossed her arms with an aggravated huff.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to talk about something else that's actually _important_, now," she muttered, pouting as she did so.

Laughing, June said, "Shoot."

With a sigh, May began, "I didn't tell anybody else about this, since I don't know how they'd look at me, but… well, at first, even _I _thought I was going crazy. But then it happened a second time, and it was pretty creepy because I was completely aware-"

"Slow down, May," interjected Dawn. "What're you talking about, again?"

The brunette bit her lip, evidently still a bit uncomfortable to be talking about such a thing. "There've been two times where I… faded. The first time, I was getting some salad, and I was reaching for the tongs, and… my hand just _passed through_ it. I wasn't really paying attention, so I thought I just missed because of lack of coordination, and I was could touch the tongs a second later, anyways.

"The second time was two nights ago, before we came to Eterna. I woke up in the middle of the night, and I was going to unzip my sleeping bag, but… I couldn't really feel anything. It was dark, so I couldn't see well, but I could still move my arm, so I knew it should've been on the ground or by my side or something. I know my arm didn't go numb, because I could completely feel again after a few seconds passed. Still, though…"

As she trailed off, May waited expectantly for either June or Dawn to say something. Maybe take a shot at how insane that sounded, reassure her that it was only a dream, that May herself was just being… well, May.

It ended up being none of those things.

Instead, Dawn sighed in relief.

"May, you don't know how… wow, you don't understand, I thought I was the only one. I thought I was going crazy, and when none of you guys brought anything like that up when we were talking about everything, I got paranoid."

May's eyes widened and both of her eyebrows rose.

"It happened to you too, Dawn?"

"Yeah, it's… it's happened a few times. It probably shouldn't freak me out so much, considering everything else that's happened, but it still…" trailed off the blunette, paling slightly.

"What about you, June?"

"…It's happened," admitted the butternut-haired girl. "The first time was maybe two days after we got sucked up, the second time happened about a week ago, and the third and fourth times happened in the past few days. I guess it didn't surprise that much because I kind of expected something weird like that, but… I think it means something."

"What?"

"I'm not _totally_ sure on this, but I swear the… _fading's_ getting a bit more frequent and… _intensive_ the longer we stay here, in this world. I mean, I might be overthinking, but I feel like it's some way of telling us that we have... a... a _time_ limit, you know?"

* * *

He and Solidad were currently strolling in the Pokemon center's back gardens, the ones next door to the center's training grounds. After Drew had asked to talk with Solidad, they had then decided to do it over a walk. They hadn't established a particular destination, though, and Drew suddenly realized that he'd been unconsciously leading them to the rose section.

For the past ten minutes or so, he'd engaged in her in an easy conversation about new grooming techniques. In that time, after a few casual glances, Drew realized that he now nearly matched her height. Solidad had always been taller than him, but now that Drew had finally been hitting his growth spurts, he was steadily catching up to the older coordinator. Now, less than an inch separated his and Solidad's eye levels. The thought made him happy; as a kid, he had always been self-conscious about his height.

"So, Drew," said Solidad as they walked along the length of the carefully trimmed rose bushes. "I know you didn't want to talk about just grooming methods. What's on your mind?"

Drew closed his eyes as he smiled slightly. With his hands stuck in his pockets, he came to a stop. He heard Solidad's steps go on for another two seconds before pausing as well, and he heard the gravel underneath her feet shift as she undoubtedly turned to look at him, perhaps even shoot him a questioning gaze or two as well.

When he opened his eyes again, Solidad was a few yards away and facing him, her body turned at an angle. A curious expression was plastered on her face, and Drew found that the moonlight emphasized her pretty features even more (not that he would ever admit anything like that to anyone… including May).

And yet, some part of his subconscious mind quietly noted that he wasn't nearly as struck by the way the soft heavenly light struck her hair as he would've been years ago…

He swallowed before casually saying, "I was just wondering if you wanted to partner up for the contest."

There. He did it, May. Something that reflected on some sort of affection he had for her. Of course, the only _affection_ that these actions suggested was respect, because he respected her ability as a coordinator enough to ask her to be his partner for the contest. See his logic?

There was a pause, and from it, Drew grew the tiniest bit nervous. What if she already had a partner? Then again, who would her partner have been? The only actual candidate that came to mind was Harley, and well, there was _no _way he was about to get jealous over _Harley_, even _if_ the man and Solidad were somehow partners. This reasoning all happened within the span of less than a second, and from it, Drew found himself relaxing.

"I'm sorry, Drew."

And then his breath hitched. It was soft, it was quiet, and Solidad hadn't seemed to notice… but it was the first sign of the evening that his cool was beginning to slip, however subtle it may have been.

Without missing a beat, Solidad continued, "I already have a partner."

"Oh. That's fine," said Drew stiffly. "Is it Harley?"

"No," replied the girl. "Remember? He said a while ago that he wasn't going to take part in this contest because he wanted to train a bit and find a new Pokemon first."

"Right," muttered Drew.

Of course. How had he forgotten that little part? But then…

"…Who is it?"

"May," responded Solidad simply.

And then Drew froze. Had he heard right?

"…May?" he echoed warily.

"Yes," murmured Solidad. "I'm sorry, Drew."

Despite her apologetic tone, Drew still felt something begin to flare within him. Something resembling of anger, disbelief, shock... Something that, in a corner of his mind, he knew was overreaction. Still, he felt like he'd just been betrayed - if not by Solidad, then by May. After all, _she_ was the one who had told him to do this, hadn't she?

"_Why_?" he tried to say calmly, though a bit of anger seeped through anyways.

Eying him warily, Solidad carefully answered, "Drew, you would've been the first person I asked, except for the fact that our battling styles just don't work well together. You know that. After I ran into May yesterday, I thought it'd be a good idea."

"_Why_?" he reiterated. This time, frustration was clearly etched into his tone. "She's not even supposed to be spending time with contests. _Rustboro_ was her first and, so far, _only _contest, Solidad. Why would you pair up with an _amateur_ like her and _risk your chances_ like that?"

Solidad's gaze hardened. "Drew, you're being ridiculous. You know just as well as I do that May has a natural talent for coordinating, whether she knows it herself or not. Her style's still raw and undeveloped, but she clearly has potential and a knack for Pokemon. Whether or not that part of her is solely her or influenced by her home world, I don't care. As a coordinator, I'd love to have the opportunity to study her technique and talent with a front row seat, and maybe even absorb some of it into my own style. I truly believe in her abilities, and I'd be surprised if you didn't, Drew."

Her argument made sense. But Drew wasn't in the mood for sense.

"But _why _would you _risk_ that!" he bellowed. "The Grandiose Festival is so close, Solidad. There's barely a full month left to collect ribbons. Our chances are running out more and more everyday with each contest that takes place, and this year, of _course_ the competition's tough. With May as your partner, you can't know how it'll turn out!"

"Coordinating isn't _only _about ribbons and contests, Drew," said Solidad sharply. "It's about bringing out your Pokemon the best you can and trying to connect with them on a level that can't be bypassed by other trainers. I expect you, of all people, to know that. It's about the journey. Even if we lose this contest, that's alright with me, because one way or another, I'll have learned something about Pokemon along the way."

"So… what," said Drew, the worst sneer beginning to make its way onto his face. "You'd choose someone like _her, _a complete _ditz_, instead of _me_? Is that what you think of me?"

Solidad's jaw dropped and her mouth formed a small "o". Her eyes clearly reflected shock and dismay, and when she closed her mouth again, her face was pure, cold steel.

"What is this _really _about, Drew?" she whispered. It was so low that he almost didn't hear it. The uncharacteristic iciness in her tone nearly made him shiver.

There was a pause. Drew felt his hands roll into tight fists, his nails digging into his palms, his teeth clenching. He felt a burning in his gut, his chest, his heart. Words poised on the tip of his tongue, cold and warm sweats alike breaking out on his forehead, emotions messing him up like he'd never been messed up before…

The words were out before he even knew what he was saying.

"_I love you_!"

Solidad froze. Drew froze. For a moment, everything froze.

Then…

"… I'm sorry, Drew."

… It all came crashing down.

"You're like a little brother to me," she continued softly. "I can't see you that way. You deserve better than me, anyways. You'll find someone else, Drew. I'm sure of that."

The irony. Oh, all the irony, Drew thought bitterly as he recoiled from her words. So Solidad rejects him as a partner because she's already partners with May, who was the one who encouraged him to ask her in the first place. Drew hadn't even been planning on asking Solidad to be partners for this contest; he was the type who played it subtle, and yes, he knew that his and Solidad's styles clashed. And despite being "the type who played it subtle", he'd gone and blurted out a few _years_' worth of pent-up feelings in one second. And then, finally, to add insult to injury, Solidad says that _he _deserved better than _her_, when _he _was the one who had been acting like a snobbish, immature brat.

He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take May, he couldn't take Solidad, he couldn't take coordinating, he couldn't take this night, and most importantly, he couldn't take _himself._

He downcast his gaze and tilted his neck so that his green locks hid his eyes.

It was just a crush. This whole time, it was all just a crush. Love, in general, was just a confluence of chemicals and hormones in the pineal gland. To him, it was more useful if the feeling was translated into a passionate motivation for coordinating or something.

Not for a girl.

Still, though... as he abruptly turned and stalked away from Solidad, the roses, and the scene of his rejection, Drew felt more embarrassed and angry than he ever had before.

* * *

Dawn and June had been animatedly coming up with appeals and combinations to practice in preparation for the contest in two days when May suddenly felt uneasy.

It wasn't a nauseous, queasy feeling that she sometimes got after accidentally downing a cup of milk that had been sitting in the fridge for a week too long. She didn't feel sick; she wasn't unconventionally sweating, her heartbeat wasn't erratically racing, and she didn't feel unnaturally warm.

Still, though… she felt… uneasy. Unsettled.

Maybe it was just because of this room. Yeah, that was it. She just needed some fresh air.

May sat up from her bed and reached for her water bottle. She'd just say that she was going to go refill it. It was a perfect excuse, she thought as she crossed the room to the door, seeing as she didn't want to worry June or Dawn any more than necessary.

"Hey, guys? Be right back, I'm going to get some water," she called over her shoulder.

When the only reply she received was a nonchalant "yeah, yeah" from Dawn, May rolled her eyes, opened the door, stepped outside, let the door shut itself, and began making her way down the hallway in the direction of the center's main entrance.

* * *

Drew had just finished punching a brick part of the Pokemon center's walls. Having finally calmed down, he scowled when he looked down at his knuckles, which were now slightly bloody, bruised, and aching.

Fabulous.

Sighing deeply, he decided it'd be best to head back into the Pokemon center. He needed rest. He just needed to sleep this whole thing off. Better yet, maybe this was all a dream. A really, _really _realistic dream where he _hadn't_ practically destroyed four, five years' worth of friendship with Solidad.

He turned and found himself looking into crimson eyes.

"Brendan?"

"Hey," the dark-haired boy replied. He was standing casually, his hands tucked in the pocket of a hoodie. He looked slightly bemused as his eyes flickered down to glance at Drew's beaten hands, though in general, there was definitely more worry etched into his face. Drew realized that Brendan had probably been there for a while, and had most likely seen him punching the wall.

"What do you want?" snarled Drew. He hadn't meant to come off like that; it just happened. Like a lot of things tonight.

"I think the better question is what do _you_ want."

"Go away," muttered Drew, already trying to sidestep Brendan.

Brendan had other plans as he matched Drew's sidestep, effectively blocking him off again. Drew sighed.

"Hey, do you want to talk?"

"Not really."

"C'mon. Bro to bro. My guess is something went down with Solidad."

Drew glowered at Brendan for a good two seconds before averting his gaze and shamefully admitting under his breath, "Yeah."

"What happened? You get rejected or something?" laughed Brendan. Upon Drew's wince and grimace, Brendan immediately sobered and his jaw dropped. "Okay, woah, I'm sorry, man… I was kidding. I didn't know it was actually…"

"It's okay. Whatever."

Brendan frowned. He then made his way over to a wooden bench conveniently situated no more than five yards from where he and Drew had been standing. He sat down and motioned for Drew to join him. With a sigh, the green-haired boy obliged, and plopped down beside Brendan with a small grunt.

"Okay. Start from the beginning."

* * *

The moment she had stepped outside the doors and into the cool night air, May instantly felt better. There was still something tugging at her, but at least her mind was, in general, feeling much clearer.

She was skipping down to the water fountain near the side of the front of the building when she heard voices. Not voices in her head, but actual voices.

May wasn't the type to eavesdrop, but she didn't exactly care much about hearing it anyways. She probably didn't even know the people that were talking. Plus, it really couldn't be helped, since the nearer she got to the water fountain, the closer the voices seemed to get. By the time she reached the water fountain, she had already deducted that the said voices were just around the corner of the building and were probably only anywhere from ten to twenty yards away.

Her hand stopped in the middle of unscrewing the lid to her water bottle when she suddenly recognized one of the voices.

"…ended up taking her to that rose part in the gardens over there, and I just... asked her if she wanted to be my partner for that contest in two days. And she said no, she already had a partner, and it's May…"

Her mouth flew open in shock. Drew was the one talking… and Solidad must've been the "her".

"Keep going," pressed another voice.

Another wave of surprise flowed through her again. Brendan?

"And then... I don't know. I just… lost it. I wasn't thinking and I just… blew up. She said a bunch of stuff, I said a bunch of stuff…"

May's expression morphed to one of extreme pity and sorrow. She'd never heard Drew's voice speak in such a tone or crack in such a way before… He sounded so different from the cocky, headstrong guy she usually knew.

"And then… and then I just said that I loved her. I mean… it… damn it, Brendan," swore Drew. "Then she rejected me – like we didn't know that one was coming – and then I just _walked_ away, and I just…"

May nearly whimpered at the way Drew's voice faltered. It was nearly all she could do to keep herself from marching over there and engulfing him in a gigantic comforting hug and tell him that everything was going to be alright.

And that's when it hit her.

May was the reason for all of this.

_She _was the one who had ultimately pushed Drew to say whatever he said to Solidad. _She _was the one who had encouraged all this, _she _was why Drew was so heartbroken right now, _she_ was the one who had tried to instill in him that love was amazing and wonderful and beautiful…

Suddenly, a pressure came down on her chest, on her heart. Something twisted in her stomach, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

_This_ was all _her _fault.

If she hadn't practically forced Drew to go to Solidad, this wouldn't have happened. If she hadn't been Solidad's partner, then Solidad wouldn't have rejected Drew, and Drew wouldn't have lost it and confessed so spontaneously and gotten shot down.

Suddenly drowned in her own realizations, May tuned out the rest of Drew and Brendan's conversation.

Realizing she was blinking back tears, May abruptly turned and ran back into the Pokemon center, her original intention of refilling her water bottle completely forgotten.

* * *

Drew sighed, having finally finished recounting his tale for the night and venting about his emotions.

"The thing is… I don't even think it was the fact that she rejected me that hit me so hard," he admitted slowly.

Brendan raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Ultimately… I think my feelings for Solidad have been fading, anyways. It was just a shot to my pride that she didn't want to partner with me. It's just... this means that I don't have a chance with her anymore. Solidad, I mean. Which means that… I'm free to move on to this… other girl…"

"Yeah? That's great!" cheered Brendan.

Drew grimaced.

"It's not."

"Why?" wondered Brendan, his face falling.

"She's not someone I should be falling for," replied Drew stiffly.

"Hey, forbidden love? That's the oldest cliché in the book," chuckled Brendan, playfully hitting Drew's arm. "…Well, after the whole football player and cheerleader thing. Now _that_ can get ridiculous."

A small smile made its way onto Drew's face, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hey, c'mon, lighten up. So you're free again. You know, you've been tying yourself down to one girl who's never looked at you as anything more than a brother for years. It's not bad to put yourself out there again. You might not want to, but eventually, you're going to have to realize again that taking risks is _good_."

He paused as a thoughtful expression came over his face.

"You know, the more you fall, the better it's going to be when someone finally catches you."

Something began burning again in Drew's eyes, and his previously small smile grew a bit wider.

"Thanks."

Brendan grinned.

"No problem."

"Hey, can I ask you one more question?" began Drew after a few moments of silence.

"Sure, shoot."

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor…"

* * *

May raced all the way back to the door of room 129, the door that separated the room that held June and Dawn from the rest of the world.

She was breathing pretty heavily, and there was a slight burn in her legs, but that didn't matter right now. She leaned against the sliver of wall separating the doors of rooms 129 and 127 and slid down into a crouching position.

She ran a hand through her hair.

Words couldn't describe how _guilty _she felt right now. She was so _stupid _and _naïve_. What was she going on about, telling Drew to confess to Solidad? First of all, she had no right to. Second, not all confessions ended in happy endings. Tonight had clearly just been exhibit A.

There were tears lurking. She could feel them. And she felt immensely guilty about them.

Why was she the one crying when Drew was the one who had been rejected?

She just felt so sorry for him, she felt as if _she_ were somehow the one who had been rejected, she felt so utterly responsible for this entire... _thing_, this incident that may or may not have even destroyed Drew and Solidad's friendship…

Right as she reasoned to herself that she would go back into the room once she gathered herself again (which should be soon), a tear slipped down her cheek.

The rest quickly followed.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

aww Dreww. :'( (if you thought he was ooc in this chapter [which is okay, I thought so a bit too], then here's me just saying that emotions make people do crazy stuff.)

..Brendan's such a good bro :')

Thanks for reading! Review? :)


	19. The Speculation

May found herself aimlessly wandering the area near the Pokemon center, namely the training grounds. Her feet trudged along the worn dirt paths on the sides as her eyes followed a few trainers (or coordinators, by the way one pair of boys was evidently trying to train together) and their Pokemon.

She heaved a sigh.

It wasn't even seven in the morning, and yet, here she was, walking circles around the Pokemon center training grounds like a stalker or a hobo. So far, she'd dragged her feet through four laps already, and was halfway through a fifth.

The sky was still adjusting to a new day, and the sunlight was soft. Cerulean was already beginning to push away the dawn peach haze, and the sun would come up over the horizon within the next half-hour. The weather itself was the way it had been on any other day since May had been here—pleasant, slightly breezy, relaxing.

Everything pointing to a beautiful new day.

It's just that, well, May kept finding herself thinking about the darkness of the night before.

Frowning, May kicked at a pebble.

The events, the words had kept her up all night. She hadn't slept well; she'd shifted in and out of consciousness all night. She'd _tried _to sleep, she really had… but it hadn't worked, because the haunting playback of the way Drew's voice had cracked tortured her. She recalled everything—her own conversation with Drew (which was, in retrospect, a memory she now cringed at), the _wink_ she had actually given him, the bit of Drew and Brendan's conversation she'd overheard…

She flinched.

Out of everything… _that_ was the one thing that did the most damage to her. Remembering the way Drew's voice had faltered. It wasn't because it had simply faltered. No, it was so much more _symbolic _than that. Symbolic in the sense that it was her fault that it'd faltered, that _he _faltered.

What if Drew even hated her?

So what, challenged a corner of her brain. _He's just a guy you met. If—_once _you get back home, you won't even see him anymore—_

_ Shut up_, she retorted._ Shut up, shut up, shut up. I...practically indirectly broke his heart! There's no way he would've ever told her if it wasn't for me. It was all my fau—_

_ Actually, it was Solidad's fault. She's the one who rejected him. If she'd said yes, then Drew wouldn't be rejected, even if you were still partners for the contest._

_Can't you let me wallow in my self-hatred for just one moment__—_

_ This also leaves you free to try to go after him, though—_

May froze. Where had _that _thought come from? _No. No, no, no, no—_

"May?"

At the sound of her name, the brunette immediately whirled, any thoughts of precaution tossed aside in a moment of frenzy. Her eyes widened. "S-Solidad," she blurted.

The older girl watched her with bemused eyes. "Why were you murmuring 'No, no, no' to yourself?" she wondered aloud, smiling slightly.

"I was… thinking," said May lamely and flushing slightly. She hadn't realized that she'd actually been saying anything out loud.

"I see," said Solidad. Without missing a beat, she continued, "Would you mind if I joined you?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah… sure," murmured May as she turned around again and began walking again, only this time was with Solidad on her left side.

A few seconds of silence passed. May didn't know quite what to say. After all, Solidad was one of the players in the drama that had been last night. May warily wondered if the coral-haired girl knew about her role in what had happened between her and Drew last night. Finally, she spoke up. "…Solidad?"

"Yes, May?" asked the girl gently, her head turning to look at the brunette.

"Um…question. What would you do if…you told someone to do something that you thought was right, but then, it turns out that it…wasn't so right?" she said slowly, cautiously. "I mean, do you think they'd…hate you?"

"Well...I suppose it depends. I think if they trusted you enough to take your advice in the first place, though, then there's probably a decent chance that you wouldn't have dropped so far to them for them to _hate_ you. Hate is a strong word," she added lightly. "As for what I would do…that also depends. If it was something trivial, I'd just apologize to them and we'd laugh it off. But if it was something deeper and more important, I'd still apologize...After that, you have a choice: decide whether or not whatever you thought is still right or not."

Solidad smiled softly at May's perplexed expression featuring a furrowed brow. The brunette was clearly deep in thought, staring at the ground. Solidad could practically see the gears shifting at breakneck speeds in the brunette's brain.

"May," she began quietly. "What happened with Drew isn't your fault. He's always built a wall around his heart; it was about time a part of it got battered down. Otherwise, he wouldn't ever be able to risk it. His heart, I mean. Really," she added with a laugh. "That'd be a bigger problem. It's a miracle that you were able to get through to him in the first place."

May's head immediately snapped up, and she stared at Solidad with widened, terrorized eyes and a gaping mouth.

"Er… Solidad," began May again, though just as hesitantly as the first time.

"Yes?" repeated Solidad, following the script.

"I…um…"

"Just spit it out, May," said Solidad with a slight chuckle.

"Why…I mean, how…I mean…you knew that it was me?" she lamely asked.

"What was you?" said Solidad, quirking an eyebrow and hiding a smile. Really, she was just trying to get the brunette to corner herself. Evil? Yes.

"That I was the one who made Drew…tell you."

"I figured," said Solidad evenly, trying to fight a smile.

"You…did? How? I mean, why—"

"May, I already told you. It's not your fault. I've known Drew for a long time, and trust me, he _needed _to do that."

"So…you already knew about his feelings?" ventured May, perplexed. "You mean, he was going to…tell you sometime, anyways?"

"I only had a hunch about his feelings," admitted Solidad. "But no, without you, he probably wasn't going to tell me."

May's face fell, and a melancholic, guilty expression was plastered on her face again. "Oh."

Solidad rolled her eyes and let out a playful, exasperated sigh. "May, you're not getting what I'm saying."

"Not really," muttered the brunette in agreement.

"Okay, let's see if I can get you to understand," said Solidad, resting her chin on her palm. "Drew…isn't the type to let people in much. He never really has been. He keeps his feelings to himself, and he's careful about everything he says and does. That's why it's surprising that you, someone he just met a week ago, was able to get through to him about showing his feelings for once." She paused. "I think it means something, May."

"…That I'm persuasive?"

"Perhaps," mused Solidad. "_Or_…he acknowledges you in some way—some way that he's never quite acknowledged anyone else in. You're a wonderful person, May, and we've never met someone quite like you before. I think Drew recognizes that, and because of it, he respects your opinions to the point of accepting them, whether he knows it or not."

"Or maybe he just thinks I'm annoying and wants to get me off his back," muttered May, at which Solidad chuckled. "But…he never _shows _that he respects me," she maintained stubbornly. "He's always making fun of me."

Solidad leaned back in her chair, her back now pressing into the wall. She crossed her arms.

"Is he, now?" she mused. "He doesn't do that often, you know. He used to, when he was younger; he made fun of everyone weaker than him. Of course, he's grown up since then, and only occasionally do Harley and I hear him say something like that anymore." She paused, a sly, knowing smile beginning to twist her mouth. "That's interesting."

"Solidad…I get what you're trying to say, but there's no way," laughed May.

"No way what?" challenged Solidad.

"No way that I have as much as an effect on him as you think I do," replied May, rolling her eyes as she took a bite of salad. "It's just not possible. If he doesn't hate me by now, he probably thinks I'm just annoying."

"Hmm…we'll see," murmured Solidad, tracing the lid of her coffee cup with her finger. "We'll see."

"Yeah…I, um," she murmured, rubbing her eyes as she reorganized her thoughts and words. "I've actually been thinking up a few combinations for us, based on the Pokemon I know you have."

Solidad smiled.

"Funny, me too."

* * *

May released a happy groan (whatever that's supposed to sound like) as she stretched her limbs. It felt pretty good, despite the fact that one part near the small of her back hurt more than was probably normal due to a misaimed Shadow Ball.

Even though she was weary from lack of sleep and part of her mind was still laden down by the whole thing with Drew, she still felt wonderfully content right now. Pokemon training—particularly if lots of things were accomplished—was amazingly satisfying. It was either that or the fact that her belly was comfortably filled from dinner just now, which had been at a small restaurant not too far from the Pokemon center.

She was now headed to the library again, and the building was already within her sights. It was getting a bit dark, but she and Solidad had decided before dinner that it was a good time to stop, let their Pokemon rest for the night, and call it a day. Beautifly and Eevee were currently left with Nurse Joy for the woman to nurse them into full health and energy for tomorrow, so May was rather Pokemonless right now. She made a mental note to check up with Torchic tomorrow as well.

As she stepped past the automatic glass doors of the library, May found her head wandering.

What were they going to do after the contest was over? Just leave Eterna, right? But what were they going to do after Eterna? She supposed their next lead from Professor Rowan had been to go to Canalave City. Checking out their library seemed like a good idea, and maybe they could track down his myth-obsessed Dex Holder. Yeah, Canalave seems the good idea, she thought. _I'll talk to the others about it later._

She immediately headed for the section in the backmost corner of the first floor, otherwise known as the mythology section. It didn't take long; the library wasn't actually that wide. Without looking, she plucked a few books from the shelves and set them down on the same table she and Drew had sat at yesterday. She lowered herself down into the same seat as the one she'd been in yesterday, amused with the déjà vu.

She extracted a moderately thick paperback book from her pile and examined the cover. She was shocked by the words that jumped out at her: "Team Galactic: Out of this World?" A bad pun, yes, but considering her situation and all their speculation, intriguing nonetheless.

May opened the book to the first page and began reading.

"_We've all heard of the main villainous teams: Rocket, Plasma, Magma, Aqua…and Galactic is no exception. All of their leaders are pretty nasty and reluctant about interviewers (I don't know why they're getting upset about all the rumors and speculation; _they're_ the ones who refuse to tell us stuff. Hey, reporters got to get by somehow, right?), and though their grunts are much less clever (no offense, guys. Please don't kidnap my Glameow), they're usually just as unwilling to spill. Well, unless you do it discretely. According to my sources, trickery can get you pretty far._

"_It seems that what Sinnoh and the rest of the world wants to believe is that Team Galactic has disbanded for good. I, as a longtime citizen of Jubilife City, would like no more than to believe this as well. Still, what I am about to share with you in this book is all the reasons why I believe that that is _not _true. The thing about many of these villainous teams is that they usually don't just _stop_—of course, sometimes they do. Take Team Aqua and Magma, for instance, who halted their doings the moment they realized that the world is perfectly balanced as far as the ratio of land to sea. On the other hand, you have Team Rocket, who continues their shenanigans to this day, harassing trainers for their Pokemon and developing more horrors in that lab of theirs._

"_However, Team Aqua and Magma had definitive goals—to increase the ratio of water to earth and earth to water, respectively. Team Rocket has only one—world domination. (How they plan to achieve it eludes me, but I'm sure they're still working on it.) Team Galactic, to me, unfortunately, is much more reminiscent of Team Rocket—they are much more vague in their ambitions. In fact, their particular ambition to take over the universe is even broader than Team Rocket's of the world._

"_For the rest of this book, I will expand and guide you through the full history and accomplishments of Team Galactic, as well as comparisons to them and other villainous teams. I will also ultimately give you a list of reasons as to why I sincerely believe that they will return, and with greater ambitions than before, though I confess that I do not know when. Call me a paranoid old bat, but I believe Sinnoh has a right to watch its back."_

May found herself frowning slightly and soon began wondering when this book had been published. It was then that it dawned on May that she didn't know what date it was in this world, and her mouth fell slack in shock. If she were back in her old world, though…

She squeezed her eyes and remembered back to the last day she had been in the pagoda. That day had been November...18th, right?So…considering the fact that today had been their thirteenth day in this world, that meant that...back home, it was already December 1st.

May frowned.

_Twelve whole days of having been missing, huh? Mom… Dad… Max…_

She sighed, suddenly blinking back tears. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes, composed herself, and sighed again. It was no good getting hung up over that anymore. All she could do was focus on the matter at hand.

May flipped to the last page of the book and began reading it, wondering if the disparity between the beginning and end of the book was enough to pique her interest.

"_I've given you all my speculations and logically sound opinions that are based on every newspaper article, radio broadcast, informational book, and reliable source I've been able to get my hands on.__ Cyrus and many of his commanders have successfully still eluded the authorities. So, dear reader, now it is up to you. Will you join the preparation in defending Sinnoh against the second rise of Team Galactic? Or will you brush this entire book off as blasphemy? Either one goes, and of course, I suppose only time could verify which conclusion is actually correct._

_"However, I, personally, like to think that Cyrus's last words before he disappeared off the face of the Earth are rather foreboding: 'Sinnoh, you stupid, inferior nation. You cannot stop the gears of fate. You cannot stop greatness. You cannot stop _me_. When we meet again, I will have a new ally by my side. One whose existence and powers you are all _too cowardly _and _deathly afraid _of to acknowledge. In the end, I will be the only one who emerges victorious.'"_

May felt an unexplainable chill run down her spine.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

so basically just some Solidad/May bonding and Team Galactic witchcraft. (;

Thanks for readingg! Review? :)

-Apheleia


	20. The Waterfall

He chuckled.

"You're crazy. Insane."

She grinned.

"You're one to talk."

"Going to be honest, Leaf, I'm not sure why you're my best friend."

"I'm sure that's what your mom said to my mom at one point…and that's _also_ your answer," Leaf quipped.

He grinned roguishly.

"That's accurate."

Leaf chuckled as she lifted her gaze to look at him, and her heart involuntarily skipped a beat at the sight of his piercing hazel eyes. He raised and reached a lazy hand to tuck a stray lock back behind her ear, and even though Leaf was slightly surprised by the gesture, she smiled. It felt _right_. She closed her eyes, reveling in his touch.

After all this time, how had she never realized how _natural _this was, and how…_right_?

Her eyes opened again when she felt his hand withdraw from her, and she was met with the sight of Gary watching her intently. His eyes were serious, but his expression was blissfully content. She smiled softly.

"I love you," she murmured with a chuckle as she averted her eyes from his gaze to the ground, embarrassed.

For a couple of long moments, he didn't say anything. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he hadn't even moved a muscle. Confused, she peered up at his face again. She found herself reeling from his gaze.

It was cold. Hard. Confused.

"We're best friends, Leaf," he said as he averted his gaze and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Something like that isn't even…_allowed._ It's not right. It wouldn't end well and you know it."

She found herself reeling once again, and this time was from both the intensity of his gaze _and _words.

_It wouldn't end well…and you know it._

Hadn't that been her line?

"_I don't see how this could possibly work, Gary," she laughed nervously. "It wouldn't end well. We're best friends…is it even allowed?" she joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood._

_He smirked and leaned in closer to her until his forehead was touching hers._

"_Hey, we know each other back and forth, inside and out. Even if it's not _meant_ to work, we'll _make _it work," he said confidently._

Suddenly, the world was swept from under her feet. A sense of disorientation suddenly overcame her, and despite the fact that her heart was only hammering in her chest, Leaf swore that her entire body was pulsating and trembling with each beat. That's how fragile she suddenly felt. She only vaguely noticed the warmth trickling down her face.

She said something she was only somewhat aware of, since she was suddenly too emotionally overwhelmed to really care about what was coming out of her mouth. He said something she wasn't quite paying attention to, his words going in one ear and out the other and spending just enough time in her brain to let her conjure a retort. They continued to go back and forth without missing a single beat.

At one point, the conversation escalated into a full-blown argument.

"What have I done to deserve your crap lately, Leaf?!" he shouted angrily. "What's been _wrong_ with you lately!"

"Nothing!" she yelled back, tears now freely streaming down her face, and she was amazed that her voice only sounded slightly strangled. "And that's exactly _why_—the fact that you've _done nothing_! God, I…_I'm _not the one with someone wrong, Gary! It's _you_! "

"Oh, so everything is _my _fault now?" he snarled. "The one person who might tell me and was one of the only witnesses, and you're being secretive about everything. Tell me how the hell I'm _supposed to know_!"

"I don't know!" she screamed. "_I don't know_! God, Gary, _I don't know. _All I know is that I can't take it anymore! There's no way I can take _reliving_ that again, I can't take _myself _lately, and I can't take…just…_everything_ lately!"

She inhaled a shaky breath.

"And…" she began, but faltered as soon as hints of desperation and sorrow and remorse and every single last emotion left in her seeped into her tone. "…most…most of all…I can't take _you_!"

And with those words, Gary's eyes darkened. His knuckles were turning white from his clenching his fists. He was gritting his teeth and shaking so _hard_…

There was a long moment of tense silence. Finally, he spoke.

"Fine," he hissed through his teeth. "_Fine_. Damn, I don't need _you_…since it's obvious you don't freaking need_ me_. Good-_bye,_ Leaf."

And with that, he turned away from her and stalked off. Leaf didn't know where he was going, but it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that he was walking away from her_. _As she watched his back shrink smaller and smaller as he got farther and farther away from her, a strangled sob escaped her.

With the sound came the realization that she suddenly felt more alone than she ever had before. Leaf sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands, shaking and crying like no tomorrow.

And then she woke up.

The brunette opened her eyes with a jolt. She cursed as well as blinked away the tears that were on her face and in her eyes. She couldn't really do anything about the cold sweat enveloping her body, though.

Well…it wasn't as if that wasn't a familiar dream, Leaf thought bitterly as she wiped away a bit of accumulated rheum along with the wetness. Of course, the last time she'd had a dream along those lines was a while ago, and before…

Her eyes flickered to her right and to the sleeping boy beside her. His arms were crossed across his chest and his head was tilted and nestled in the crevice between his seat and the window. Even when he was asleep, she mused, there was a small crease in-between his eyebrows.

She smiled softly.

Then again, it wasn't as if she didn't know that before.

Leaf exhaled a sigh as she recalled their situation. They were on a bullet train to Canalave City, and the route would take them directly to the island by way of an underwater tunnel. The interior of the train itself wasn't overly impressive—it was just conventional four-seat rows with an aisle down the middle. The sides were nearly all glass window to reveal the dark landscape outside, and the artificial lighting overhead was dim. In other words, a perfect time to catch up on sleep.

It was also a perfect time to mull things over.

As Leaf fiddled with the emerald pendant of her necklace, she desperately tried to shove the Gary thoughts still lingering from her dream out of her mind. Instead, she turned to thinking about their current task, a favor asked of by a certain professor in Celestic Town. That particular favor was, in fact, to deliver a mysterious parcel to her granddaughter who was currently temporarily residing in Canalave City.

Leaf mused about the contents of the parcel that was currently carefully tucked away in her bag. Knowing that pair, it was probably something important, mysterious, and perhaps even powerful for it to be needed to be hand-delivered.

Well, the brunette thought as she shifted in her seat to a more accommodating sleeping position, the professor _did_ promise Leaf that she had something to tell her and Gary once they get back to Celestic Town after they deliver the package. The elder woman hadn't let on much as to what it was, but Leaf suspected it was something rather important. In any case, she and Gary had promised to be back as soon as they could.

For now, though, all she could do was wait and enjoy the ride. The brunette's eyes closed again as she reclined in her seat, shifting her body into a more comfortable position than the one she had been in.

Before long, she was out, and blissfully unaware of the fact that she had fallen asleep with her head on the left shoulder of the boy beside her.

* * *

May fought a yawn as she walked alongside Dawn and June to the contest hall, which was a good thirty yards away from the Pokemon center they had just left. She zoned out from the conversation—which had been something about wondering about the parallels between the franchise and this world as far as poffins and Pokeblocks—and took a moment to enjoy the soft rays of the morning sun. She smiled. Just like any other day, the weather was beauti-

"May? Hellooo?" said Dawn, waving a hand in front of the brunette's face.

The said brunette quickly snapped back into reality and blinked at the blunette and blonde, both of whom were watching her curiously.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"…No?" said May, a sheepish and apologetic expression coming over her face.

Dawn huffed and crossed her arms, though her mouth was twitching as she fought an exasperated smile.

"I _said…_'What does your performance outfit look like?'"

May blinked, confused. She raised an eyebrow.

"What performance outfit?"

"May, it's Sinnoh. It's a Super Contest," said June slowly as if talking to a child. "Dressing up is literally a requirement."

The brunette's eyes widened.

"Wh-wha…"

Dawn and June exchanged weary glances before turning their attention back to May.

"Well, Solidad's more responsible than you, at least. Five bucks says she's got everything ready anyways," mused June.

May narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, a pout making its way onto her face.

"_Well_ then," she said in a mock-haughty manner.

Dawn gave a curt chuckle before continuing, "So…I guess this means you don't have anything for the afterparty, either?"

May blinked.

"Afterparty...? I mean—don't look at me like that, June, I _know_ what an afterparty is—but we…we have to have something for the afterparty too?"

Dawn and June exchanged looks once more and simultaneously slapped their foreheads.

"May, _where have you been _these past few days?"

"Ahh…busy?"

Dawn sighed. Then she abruptly perked up, as if a sudden realization had hit her.

"Hey, May…This better mean that I get to pick out your outfit," she said, a sinister look crossing her face as her eyes gleamed with mischief.

May was so intimidated that she almost stopped walking.

"H-hey now, Dawn, that's…fine, but…June, why is she looking at me like that?"

June laughed as she placed a comforting hand on May's shoulder.

"She's just really excited to pick out somebody's outfit for tonight. I didn't let her choose mine, so I guess she's bent on picking out yours. I mean, there's more than one way to go all-out for a masquerade ball, I guess…"

May abruptly stopped walking. June and Dawn walked a few more paces before stopping as well, and both swiveled their heads to look back at the brunette, who was now looking incredibly shocked. Amused expressions plastered themselves onto the girls' faces in response to May's blatant confusion and disbelief.

"A…_what_?"

* * *

May was actually incredibly nervous as she clutched Beautifly's PokeBall in her hand. The fact that she was currently sitting down on a bench allowed for her to be even antsier, and her left foot was bobbing impatiently. Up until now, she'd been watching the appeals on the TV screens in the corner of the room, but she stopped after getting psyched out by a particularly impressive act. She blew out a shaky breath. A moment later, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she turned to identify the newcomer.

"Hey, Solidad," she said, smiling.

"May," greeted Solidad with a smile of her own as she took a seat next to May. "This ready room's a lot more impressive than the one at Rustboro, huh?"

May nodded. That was a bit of an understatement, she thought as she gave their surroundings a quick glance. Perhaps it was just an Eterna or even just a Sinnoh thing, but this contest hall was much more elaborate than the one in Rustboro City. In addition to abnormally large and clean lockers, there was a _marble fountain_ in the _ready room. _The walls were a cream color accented with gold accents, and high arches and arabesque embellishments decorated the entire room. In fact, the arabesque influence extended past the tall wooden doorframe and into the rest of the contest hall.

In any case, it was quite an appropriate place to hold a masquerade ball.

"So, May," began Solidad, startling the brunette from her thoughts. "How do you like your outfit?"

The brunette grinned as her eyes quickly flickered down to her own body. A fitted, gold-embellished coral crop top extended no further than three inches above her waist to reveal her midriff. The ensemble continued with a long lavender skirt and a headpiece with a lengthy pale pink veil. Solidad was wearing more or less the same thing, albeit with a slightly different color scheme.

"It's great, Solidad. Actually, I need to thank you for this…I literally didn't know about the part about dressing up until Dawn and June told me half an hour ago," she said with a laugh.

The older girl chuckled.

"Are you going to the afterparty?" she said.

"Well, Dawn's already pretty excited about picking out an outfit for me later tonight…" said May sheepishly, scratching her neck. "It'd be suicide to say no."

"You have good friends, May," said Solidad with a genuine smile. "Where are they, by the way?"

"Oh, they went to the stands to keep the others company, since they appealed already."

Solidad nodded in understanding, and the two then settled in a short session of silence. May wasn't sure what Solidad was thinking about, but she herself was freaking out about the impending performance. Suddenly, a thought struck her.

"Ah…Solidad?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know who Drew's partner is?" asked May, her brow furrowing. "I mean…since…you know."

A thoughtful expression crossed Solidad's face, and the older girl was opening her mouth to say something when she was interrupted by a man who abruptly approached them. From his headset and clipboard, May assumed that he was one of the contest staff.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the man, looking back and forth between his clipboard and her and Solidad, said, "Entries number twenty-seven?"

May nodded.

"That's us," she chirped.

The man nodded as he crossed something off his clipboard.

"You're up."

May blew out another nervous breath and clutched Beautifly's PokeBall even tighter in her hand.

"Thank you," murmured Solidad as she began to steer herself and May in the direction of the stage.

* * *

May bounded back into the ready room, exhilarated. Their appeal had been an utter success, and their score had been a whopping 29.4 out of a possible thirty. May wasn't going to assume that she and Solidad had automatically made it through to the battle rounds—after all, there was one more performance and she hadn't been paying attention to the previous scores—but the roar of the audience and praise of the judges had boosted May's ego big time. Her smiling partner trailed a little ways behind her, and the brunette turned around to beam at the older girl.

"That was _amazing,_ Solidad! I didn't know it was possible, but Butterfree and Beautifly were so much better than in practice!"

"I've never seen Butterfree give such a wonderful Silver Wind before," mused Solidad as she stretched out an arm for the said Pokemon to land on. "And, of course, Beautifly was fantastic, too."

May grinned. Beautifly happily chirped in response as it nestled itself into May's bandanna.

"There's a good chance we made it through, isn't there?"

"There is," said Solidad with a small smile. "I was watching the earlier performances, and I know we have one of the highest scores."

May beamed. Her smile grew wider.

"That's great! So it doesn't really matter who the last pair is, right? We're through, any…ways…"

The brunette's voice faded as her eyes took in the sight of two boys who were walking towards her and Solidad. They seemed to be caught up in their own conversation, and neither had spared a glance in their direction, despite the fact that they were heading directly towards her and Solidad. Both donned dark jeans and collared white button-up shirts, but one had a black blazer while the other simply had a dark tie. Her brow furrowed in confusion after she recognized the faces, and her mouth fell slightly open.

"Brendan?" she said, disbelief and confusion coloring her tone.

At the sound of his name, Brendan abruptly stopped talking and turned his head to find the source. Once recognition settled, his lips split into a wide grin.

"Hey, May," he greeted cheerfully as he made his way up to her. "Awesome performance just now, by the way. That Morning Sun and double Silver Wind combination was seriously ingenious."

"Oh, thanks…" said May, her expression still confused. "Um, Brendan? Question."

"Yeah?"

"Are you…Drew's partner?" she said hesitantly, her eyes flickering to the chartreuse-haired boy beside Brendan.

May mentally flinched at the way with which she swore Drew was looking at her. In fact, she could've sworn it was more like glaring…Then again, she couldn't really tell, considering the fact that the boy's face was actually unreadable at the moment. His body language was just as cryptic, what with the way his hands were casually stuck in his pockets and his weight was shifted onto one foot.

She turned her attention back to Brendan.

"Hah, yeah, actually," he said as he scratched the back of his neck with an almost sheepish grin. "He asked me a little while ago to be his partner and I guess since you and June and Dawn were doing it, I might as well join the bandwagon and stuff."

"That's…great," said May slowly, her brow still furrowed.

Brendan's face fell.

"Is this bad? I mean…I'm not sure why it would be, but if there's something…"

"No, no! I'm just surprised," laughed May nervously.

Well, she couldn't tell him that the reason she was so surprised was because she had just concluded that there was somehow a link between this new turn of events and the conversation she had eavesdropped on two nights ago.

"Oh, good," said Brendan, relief seeping into his tone. Then his face fell slightly. "Oh crap, Drew, we gotta go…Make sure you watch us, May!" he called over his shoulder as he and Drew brushed past her and Solidad in the direction of the stage.

A wish of "good luck" died on May's lips once her mind registered a few moments too late that Brendan and Drew were the last performance. On the TV screens, she watched the two saunter their way out onto the stage, and she could hear the roar of the crowd (which now sounded abnormally loud and more high-pitched than usual). She exchanged a look with Solidad.

Solidad smiled slightly and mused aloud, as if in explanation, "Well, knowing Drew, he's got a plan for all this."

May nodded stiffly and turned her attention back to the TV screen.

She watched as Brendan held up a lazy hand and the crowd grew quiet within seconds. She watched as he paused for a few moments as he exchanged a look with Drew and she noticed the slight nod of their heads right before they started their performance. A movement, a flash of light, a flurry of raindrops, and a shower of petals later, Mudkip and Roselia stood in all their glory in the center of the stage.

May felt her jaw drop.

Even their _entrance_ had been beautiful.

For the next thirty or seconds, she watched, entranced, as Mudkip and Roselia danced around the stage while gracefully executing a series of Water Guns, Ice Beams, Petal Dances, and Magical Leafs. Flurries of leaves and petals and sparkles flew out over the crowd, delighting them as well. Roselia and Mudkips' movements were so captivating that it wasn't until they stopped that May realized that all of their attacks had created something beautiful in the center of the stage.

The Ice Beams had frozen over the Water Guns to quickly create a behemoth prism of crystal clear ice. The Petal Dances and Magical Leafs had cut into the said ice and sculpted it so that a path ran from the top down the front side where it culminated in a shallow pit surrounded by two small areas of sloped, untouched ice. The leftover petals and leaves had scattered themselves onto the sculpture into random places, yet there was somehow a careful, perfect balance.

"Now, Mudkip—Water Gun!"

And that was the finishing touch. As Mudkip released a powerful stream of water aimed for the top of the ice, May realized exactly what Brendan and Drew had accomplished here.

It was a waterfall. A glistening, stunning, gorgeous, flowery waterfall. As the water continued to follow and stream down the engraved path, Mudkip and Roselia bounced up onto the two areas surrounding the small pond and gave small bows. Mudkip shot one more powerful blast of water into the air, and the liquid lightly sprayed the audience.

The crowd erupted.

"Amazing!" shouted Marian, the MC. "Drew and Brendan have created a gorgeous waterfall with all the grace of a Suicune! The audience clearly loves it, so let's see what the judges have to say!"

"Incredible! Both of you showcased your Pokemons' abilities wonderfully, and the result is a gorgeous display of art that beautifully blends the backgrounds of both of your Pokemon," praised Mr. Contesta.

"Absolutely _remarkable_!" said Mr. Sukizo.

"A beautiful performance by two very happy, _very _healthy Pokemon," gushed Nurse Joy. "These are clearly two trainers who are completely in synch with their Pokemon as well as each other, and the results show!"

"Nothing but a shower of compliments from the judges, then!" said Marian. "Let's see what Drew and Brendan's score is!"

Everyone in the hall turned their attention to the results board, May included. Even though she knew she and Solidad would make it through to the battle rounds—after all, four pairs would be able it to make it through—she still found herself holding her breath. There was a period of silence as everybody waited for the blank board to light up…

"…And it's a 29.8, folks! Now _that's _a score that'll go down in Eterna contest recordbooks!" announced Marian excitedly.

The crowd roared in approval, and May saw smirks cross Drew and Brendan's faces as the two boys gave each other a high-five. She watched as Mudkip and Roselia ran back to their respective trainers and chuckled when Mudkip practically tackled Brendan. She watched the two wave to the crowd, confident smiles plastered on their faces. She averted her gaze to the doorframe when they disappeared off the screen and into the privacy of the ready room. Brendan quickly walked over to her and Solidad as Drew trailed him with a slightly slower pace.

"Did you guys see us?" he asked, grinning widely.

"That was incredible!" gushed May. "There's no doubt you guys made it through to the battle rounds!"

Drew shrugged and flicked his hair.

"What else did you expect?" he said, disdain clearly pervading his tone.

The corner of May's lips pulled down. _Well_, then.

"He doesn't mean that," chuckled Brendan, slinging an arm over Drew's shoulders. "We were actually freaking out a little yesterday because we honestly couldn't come up with anything for an appeal."

The chartreuse-haired boy scowled at his partner and glowered at him, but Brendan ignored it. Out of the corner of her eye, May noticed Solidad's lips twitch and her eyebrow raise.

"Drew? Freaking out? I would've liked to have seen that," laughed Solidad.

Drew snorted, but his mouth then curved into his signature smirk.

"It wasn't so much as '_freaking out' _as it was trying to drag _him_"—he jabbed a thumb in Brendan's direction—"out of bed. He sleeps like a Snorlax."

"Hey, now…" began Brendan threateningly.

May watched in wonder as the two boys went back and forth with each other like old friends. In fact, she was surprised at how Drew had responded to Solidad's lighthearted jest as well. At least it seemed like he was on good terms with those two.

…And then there was her, whom he had said all of five words to. And in a blatantly contemptuous manner, at that. At the realization, something dropped in May's stomach.

She wasn't positive, but it may have been her heart.

She was glad when Marian jerked her out of her thoughts with an announcement of, "And now…in no particular order except for the order of the semi-finals, the four pairs moving onto the battle rounds! Please turn your attention to the board!"

May obliged, and she averted her gaze to a TV screen showing the board that was still displaying Brendan and Drew's score just now. Suddenly, it turned blank again. She heard the audience begin to cheer for their favorite appeals, and she could've sworn she heard her and Solidad's names a few times.

After about fifteen seconds of intentional delay, the board lit up again. This time, it was shuffling random pictures of all fifty-six entered coordinators in eight different slots. Each slot was connected to the one right beside it, and May assumed that the lines symbolized a partnership. The first and second partnerships were connected by a "v", and May realized that whichever partnership showed up in those slots would go against each other in the semi-finals. The same seemed to be the case for the third and fourth partnerships.

The first two slots stopped on a young redheaded boy and blonde girl.

Cheers and applause arose from both the audience and ready room as Marian announced, "Dylan Artsand and Janice Fennell!"

The second two slots stopped on a black-haired boy and girl with equally dark hair. Their features were similar as well, May mused. So similar, in fact, that she was convinced that they were siblings.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Marian said, "Victor and Victoria Hyland!"

It was now that the brunette held her breath. What if, somehow, Solidad had miscalculated and she and May weren't actually in the battle rounds? There were only two spots left…

She breathed a sigh of relief when her and Solidad's pictures showed up in the fifth and sixth slots. As she turned to smile at Solidad, though, a thought struck her.

There was the fact that May and Solidad's opponents would be whoever showed up in the seventh and eighth slots, and given the other fact that Drew and Brendan's score had been so high that it had broken a record…

May turned and found herself exchanging shocked looks with Brendan. Her eyes traveled back and forth between him and Drew, who looked equally taken aback. Solidad was the one who seemed the least surprised out of all of them, but even she had a speck of shock in her expression.

May didn't need to see their pictures appear on the board or hear Marian announce, "Drew Hayden and Brendan Yuki!" to know who her and Solidad's opponents were.

"…Well," began Brendan hesitantly, breaking the silence. "How about we make this battle so awesome that it's another record?"

* * *

May gritted her teeth.

It was like there was _nothing _that _any _of them could do—nothing! For every attack on either side, there was a balancing counterattack on the other. She could tell that Slowbro and Eevee were exhausted, as were Absol and Mudkip; every Pokemon was panting on their respective sides of the arena. Her and Solidad's points had been dwindling at a rate equal to Brendan and Drew's the entire battle, and there were two minutes left on the clock.

"Eevee, Quick Attack!"

Tired as it was, the small Pokemon immediately took off, aiming directly for Absol and Mudkip.

"Protect, Mudkip!"

Eevee's advance was abruptly stopped in its tracks as it slammed into the barrier of energy suddenly surrounding Mudkip and Absol. It ricocheted off the shield, flipping helplessly in the air—

"Absol, Razor Wind, _now_!" shouted Drew at the same time that Solidad commanded, "Slowbro, Psychic on Eevee!"

May breathed a mental sigh of relief when a purple aura surrounded Eevee and effectively jerked the Evolution Pokemon away from the sharp blast. She didn't even need to look at the board to know that both sides' points had dwindled, but in exactly the same amount. Instead, her gaze was intently focused on the far side of the stage…

_That's it! While Absol's still taking a moment to recover with Razor Wind, and since Razor Wind's destroyed the Protect from inside…_

"Eevee, charge a Shadow Ball!"

Eevee complied, quickly turning itself in the still-lingering Psychic to charge an abnormally large ball of dark energy aimed directly for Mudkip. Brendan's eyes narrowed.

"Mudkip, Protect!"

May watched as the Mud Fish Pokemon squeezed its eyes shut to focus the energy necessary for another Protect, but no shield was born of its efforts. She smirked. The chances of Protect succeeding lessened with each attempt, and Protect had already worked four times. Their luck had been bound to run out soon.

"Now, Eevee! Shadow Ball!"

And then the attack was released. The entire stadium watched as the large ball of purplish-black energy hurtled the three yards separating Eevee and Mudkip before it met the latter full-on in a mess of smoke and explosion.

When the air cleared, it was evident that Mudkip was down and out for the count.

* * *

Drew gritted his teeth.

Up until now, they had been attack for attack, counter for counter. This, though, definitely turned the tables. At this rate, if he didn't knock out either Eevee or Slowbro soon, victory would be a lost cause.

He didn't miss a beat in revenge for Brendan.

"Absol, Flash! Then Razor Iron Tail!"

In the blink of an eye, a bright light emanated from Absol, effectively blocking the one who was closest to him—Eevee. The Evolution Pokemon, Drew knew, was the one with more speed and unpredictability between it and Solidad. It wasn't to say that Slowbro wasn't just as tough of an opponent, but he had a better chance if he aimed for Slowbro. The next thing anybody knew, Absol was hurtling towards the opposite end of the arena at breakneck speeds; the reason why the Disaster Pokemon was going so fast was because of the boost that it was getting from a self-conjured Razor Wind. And even though Drew heard Solidad call out, "Psychic!" in an attempt to stop the oncoming attack, he knew it was useless. By now, Absol was too close for Slowbro's reflexes…

Once another small explosion and cloud of smoke cleared, it was evident.

Slowbro was out.

Looks of shock were plastered on May and Brendan and nearly every single spectator's face. Solidad's, on the other hand, was perfectly composed. Drew's was more or less the same, except for the fact that his eyebrows were slightly knitted.

There was a brief unspoken intermission as Solidad and Brendan returned their fallen Pokemon back to their PokeBalls. Drew watched as Solidad and May exchanged a few words, glancing every so often in his and Brendan's direction.

"Sorry I couldn't help more," he heard Brendan say.

"S'okay," he heard himself mutter. "They're good."

"Down to you now, Drew. Make it count," said Brendan, to which Drew had responded to with a curt nod.

With that, Brendan stepped off the stage. Drew watched as Solidad did much the same, leaving only himself and May to finish the battle.

It was then that their gazes locked, and even though dozens of yards separated them, Drew was abruptly taken aback by the fire burning in the brunette's eyes and the confident smile on her lips. For a moment, it was just him and the girl across from him. For a moment, he didn't notice anything else.

For a moment, there was an unexplainable rush inside him like none he'd ever felt before.

In that same moment, he was terrified.

"I'm not going easy on you, Drew!" he heard her yell over the crowd, jolting him from his thoughts.

A small smirk made its way onto his face. _Now there's a surprise._

"Let's go, Absol!"

* * *

There were literally thirty seconds left on the clock. It was honestly coming down to the wire. A quick glance at the scoreboard told May that their points were _exactly tied_.

How was that even possible?

_He sure knows how to raise Pokemon…_

"Absol, Water Pulse!" shouted Drew, and an unnatural wave of water suddenly rose from behind Absol, racing towards Eevee.

May furrowed her brow and bit her lip. She wasn't sure if this would work, but…

"Dodge with Quick Attack!"

A grin broke out on the brunette's face when her plan succeeded. Forget science, all that mattered was that Eevee was able to harmlessly race across the crashing water and hurtle straight towards Absol.

* * *

Drew clenched his teeth as he realized what was happening. He recalled that May had played with the same reckless, all-out strategy back at the contest in Rustboro, as well.

_May hasn't lost any speed._

"Absol, wait to counter with Iron Tail!"

* * *

"Now, Eevee, Shadow Ball!"

* * *

Eevee was finishing up charging a Shadow Ball and in the middle of releasing it when she noticed that Absol's glowing silver rump was being swiveled into her face. If she could've, the little Evolution Pokemon would've flinched at the sight, but that would've messed with the execution of her Shadow Ball. She released the attack, though she quickly realized that her attack and Absol's Iron Tail would cancel each other out.

So she did something—something that proved that Pokemon really _did _have a mind of their own, even in battles.

…Okay, well, technically, May _had_ told her earlier to do it if necessary, but it was still the fact that it was Eevee's decision that counted, right?

Bah. Details.

* * *

The result of the two attacks was, as expected, another huge explosion with plenty of smoke. May instinctively shielded her eyes from the dust and coughed. Only one thought pervaded her mind.

She hoped Eevee had realized that this was exactly the kind of situation she had told the Evolution Pokemon about.

After a few long moments passed, May was beginning to worry. What if Eevee didn't do it? Even worse, what if Eevee didn't make it through the Shadow Ball/Iron Tail clash?

Her cry of, "Eevee!" was quickly subdued by her own choking cough.

Her spirits immediately lifted, though, the moment she saw bright flashes of yellow-ish light and imprints of ricocheting stars through the smoke.

Last Resort. Fitting, wasn't it?

A few seconds later, the smoke and dust had cleared enough to let everyone see the outcome. Absol was sprawled on its side, on the ground and out cold. Eevee, on the other hand, was standing. She was evidently tired and weak, but it was clear who the winner was. The Pokemon took a few steps closer to the unconscious body of Absol and leaned down to gently nuzzle its neck.

May was relieved by the turn of events, surprised at the outcome, and a bit befuddled at Eevee's actions towards Absol just now. Even so, a triumphant smile was on her face. She looked up from the two quadruped Pokemon and found Drew's gaze so quickly and unexpectedly that it left her mentally fumbling.

Even at a distance, she could tell there was something in his eyes and expression. Anger, maybe? Disdain? Distress? Disappointment? …Confusion?

Before her mind could truly register anything, Drew returned Absol back to his PokeBall. Before her mouth had the chance to try to call something out to him, he had turned his back on her, left the stage, and stalked away, his hands in his pockets.

May was so confused and perplexed and stunned that she hardly even heard the referee officially declare, "The winners are May and Solidad!"

* * *

As May walked up to the judges with Solidad by her side, she felt an immense sense of pride and joy. She laughed when a million pieces of confetti began raining down on them, she was elated to hear the loud applause and cheers of the crowd, and she felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment when Mr. Contesta presented both her and Solidad with the Eterna Ribbons, which were essentially two emerald tails clasped by an elaborate golden brooch.

As May took a moment to admire the ribbon in her hand, her mind immediately reminisced about everything that had led up to this moment. From obtaining Beautifly and Eevee to teaming up and training with Solidad to their appeal round to the battles…Admittedly, their second and final battle—which had been against the siblings—was far from as difficult as the one with Brendan and Drew had been. It had still been a good battle, of course, but nothing compared to…

She tore her gaze away from the ribbon to look out at the crowd and the coordinators gathered at the bottom of the stage. She quickly found Brendan and gave him a quick smile before breaking eye contact with him and searching for someone else. His partner, to be specific.

The task wasn't difficult. He wasn't hard to find, what with his green hair. He was watching the ceremony of her and Solidad receiving the ribbons like everyone else, and in the back of her mind, May wondered if this was nothing more than salt in the wounds for him.

It was as if he had felt her gaze, because a moment later, their eyes locked.

May didn't know what to make of the emotions in his eyes. There was clearly something there. She could tell he was trying his best to keep a stoic, nonchalant face. His poker face was excellent and whatever was going on inside him was well-protected from everyone else with a front, but there was something that perturbed her. Something that pierced her. Something that she just couldn't figure out...

She wondered if he was trying to read her as well.

Suddenly, there was a pressure on her hand. Her eyes flickered down to realize that Mr. Contesta had grabbed one of her and Solidad's hands and raised them high in victory.

And just like that, the connection with Drew was broken.

After a few seconds of polite smiling and waving to the enthusiastic crowd, May casually shifted her gaze back to where Drew had been, searching.

Her heart fell when she realized he wasn't there anymore.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

So oh man this was the first time that I've actually skipped/missed a weekly update on FDS. :( Haha I'm sorry, I honestly thought that I could handle writing both Uncomfortable and this last week, but I guess I couldn't...in my defense, it's also finals time super soon for me, sooo yeah. xP

CONFUSED ENOUGH BY THE LEAF/GARY SCENE YET? Dw, you're probably not alone. xD I recently gave their backstory a huge overhaul so Leaf's dream was supposed to look into it a little bit.

SO. AFTERPARTY COMIN' UP. And if you were attentive, you'd know that it's a masquerade ball. ;) oh sinnoh and your fancy-schmancy shenanigans

By the way, if a few of May and Drew's lines during the battle scene seemed familiar, they probably were. Hint: Kanto Grand Festival ;)

anyways, thanks for reading! And leave a review if you'd like?


	21. The Cracks

May stood off to the side of the entrance to the contest hall. She had stood in that exact spot for the past couple of minutes, moving only to awkwardly shift her weight onto her other foot as she watched other attendees of the afterparty stream into the hall one after another.

A group of what had seemed to be masked twelve-year-olds had just bounded into the hall, formal wear and all, and they were steadily disappearing from May's peripheral vision when the brunette heard someone say behind her, "May?"

May turned to face whoever had just called her name, though she already had a very good idea of who it was based on the voice alone. She nodded slightly upon recognizing the two standing before her, both of whom had curious expressions on their faces.

"Hey guys," greeted May, smiling slightly.

"What're you doing out here?" wondered June. "I thought we said that we were alright with you going on in ahead of us? We all knew how long Dawn takes in the bathroom."

"Not to mention, May, it's almost a crime to keep you from food," interjected Dawn, not even bothering to defend herself.

May rolled her eyes but didn't turn to head into the building.

"What's wrong? If it's your outfit, don't worry. You look hot. I'd wolf-whistle if I could," said June.

May released a soft, slightly nervous laugh as her eyes automatically flickered down to study herself. The dress was strapless—a feature May wasn't entirely comfortable with, but it was either this or the unadulterated wrath of Dawn—and the fabric was a cobalt that the blunette had insisted "brought out May's eyes". The waist was accentuated by a thin gold band, and the skirt part fell in pleated waves to barely graze the ground.

"Trust the dress, May. Trust the dress," said Dawn, nodding with her eyes closed and her chin in the "L" created by her thumb and index finger—her "thinker" position. "After all, _I_ picked it out...just be careful; it's a rental under my name."

"Still nothing compared to you, Dawn. Seriously, white cocktail dresses to masquerade balls? You're definitely keeping it medievally classy, aren't you?" said June, her tone laced with sarcasm.

The said blunette grinned, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Oh, you're such a flatterer, June!" said Dawn flamboyantly, making a show of pushing June with one hand while her other hid the blunette's face in mock embarrassment.

"Stupid freshman," muttered June as she fought to regain her balance, which was a task slightly easier said than done in the heels that she was wearing. "Why did we let her into the group again?" she said louder, obviously directed at May.

"Because I completely creamed Brendan in the first card battle I ever had with you guys?" said Dawn, rolling her eyes. "Still a feat I'm super proud of, by the way."

May chuckled. Now _that_ had been one of the more intense card battles that had ever taken place in their pagoda. It had literally all come down to a coin flip.

"Not that it ever happened again," muttered June sulkily.

"No, it's not the dress," said May, abruptly turning the focus of their conversation back on point.

"Is it the hair?" wondered June. "Don't take my word for it, but it's honestly really nice, May. You should do it like that more often."

"Really?" said May, slightly flattered. Her hand reached instinctively to play with a lock of her hair, a task made surprisingly much more fun by the fact that it was straightened.

Yes, that's right—May Maple had straightened her hair. (By the use of Dawn's portable straightener that the girl carried around in her bag, much to no one's surprise.)

Her previous slightly puppy-dog-ish hairstyle now hung in a silky, shiny curtain down only a few inches past her shoulders, but nonetheless, it was a surprising—and refreshing—look on May. Despite the drastic change in hairstyle, even with her sapphire mask on, May personally didn't think she was unrecognizable. After all, there was still her mouth, nose, eyes, her jaw line. Of course, it seemed that she'd be proved wrong only later that night.

"Yeah, but I doubt that's what you were worried about in the first place, May. What's up?" asked Dawn.

May shook her head.

"If I knew, I'd tell you..." the brunette trailed off, frowning slightly. A bad answer, but it was the complete truth.

The corner of Dawn's lips pulled down and June raised an eyebrow.

"Something about a guy?" drawled June. When May opened her mouth to retort, the blonde immediately cut her off by bouncing up and down and sticking her hand in the air and calling, "Ooh, ooh! Pick me!" Without even waiting for May to call on her, she continued, "Is it Brendan?"

May gave the girl an astounded look.

"No," she said simply, bewildered by the fact that June had even suggested such an idea.

The blonde immediately simpered down at May's response and almost seemed to pout for a short while. May cocked her head as she tried to make sense of June. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, it's not a big deal," said May, shrugging and turning to finally head into the hall. "C'mon, let's go in."

The girls watched May walk away for a moment before Dawn leaned into June and whispered, "Something's definitely on her mind, right?"

"Oh yeah," replied June just as quietly, a sly smile slithering onto her face. "Some_one_'s definitely on her mind."

* * *

May frowned.

"Dawn? June?" she tried calling, but her voice was lost in the chatter of the rest of the guests.

For the past ten minutes, there had been no sign of Dawn's cobalt hair or June's jade green gown. While she was at it, there were also a dozen too many dark-haired guys for May to identify any of them as Ash or Brendan, and there was no sign of Solidad, Harley, or Drew either.

May sighed. Great.

For some reason, she was having a bad feeling about tonight before the night even began, and this turn of events definitely wasn't helping. Also, this place was huge—the afterparty stretched throughout the building and spanned a number of large, elaborately decorated rooms—and it totally _wasn't_ May's fault that she was lost.

"Fine," she grumbled to no one in particular. "I'll just eat, then! I'll drown away my sorrows with food!" she proclaimed loudly as her expression morphed into that of a determined one, and she earned a few looks from the people surrounding her.

Upset with the way the night was turning out, May stomped over to the closest refreshments, grabbed a plate, loaded it with finger sandwiches and Pecha berries, poured herself a cup of punch, sat down in the closest seat—which was right next to the tables holding the refreshments—with a huff, and began drowning away her sorrows with food.

* * *

Brendan grinned and exchanged a look with Ash, who was right next to him and was dressed in a dark gray three-piece suit with his ever-present Pikachu on his shoulder. As Brendan fingered the lapel of his own black blazer—the same one he had worn for the contest earlier—he held up the blue device to Ash, being careful to not jostle the earbud that was in his ear. Ash studied the screen. A moment later, a crease appeared between the raven-haired boy's eyebrows.

"Uh," said Ash, unsure of quite what to say as he gave Brendan a reproachful and questioning look.

"Pi?" chirped Pikachu as it studied the screen as well, though it wasn't as if it could read the words that were displayed.

Brendan replied with a shrug and a cheeky grin before taking the last few steps of their thirty-second journey from the entrance to where a certain blonde and blunette were standing. Their backs were turned to the boys as the latter silently approached them. When Brendan crept up behind the blonde, he stuck the other earbud into her ear, much to June's surprise (which was evidenced with a small yelp). Upon recognizing the chorus of the song that was playing, June's surprise turned into confusion and she turned to face the perpetrator. The blunette's reaction was a bit more subdued, but she still turned to shoot Ash and Brendan a questioning look too.

"I've been watching you all night, there's something in your eyes...Say c'mon c'mon and dance with me, baby?" said Brendan, the effect made better to him and June by the music streaming into their ears.

June wrinkled her nose and raised an eyebrow.

"Since when were you a closet Directioner?"

"Hey now, this is May's iPod. Not mine," protested Brendan.

"Excuses," deadpanned Dawn at the same time June muttered, "This is my 'judging you' face..."

"Besides," continued the blunette. "How do you even have her iPod?"

"No, the better question," began Ash, shooting Brendan a look. "Is even if that's May's iPod, how would you know about that, uh, _song_ in the first place?"

"...It came on during shuffle?"

"Which comes back to why you have the iPod in the first place," said Dawn, an amused smile dancing on her lips.

"She let me have it to keep sane while you were going Fashion Nazi on her earlier in the rental rooms," explained Brendan. He paused before continuing, "Not gonna lie, I've never actually heard anybody threaten someone about putting them into a garbage bag and throwing them into Trubbish if they didn't promise to choose a certain pair of shoes."

"Those shoes are perfect for her!" retorted Dawn, crossing her arms with a huff.

"I was planning to give it back tonight," said Brendan, ignoring Dawn. "But I haven't seen her. She _is_ here, right?"

"Yeah, somewhere. We lost her right before we came in. She's probably pigging off somewhere," said June nonchalantly, picking at a spot on her thumb.

"What's she wearing? That'd probably make it easier to find her," suggested Ash. Brendan nodded in agreement.

"Strapless. Blue. Floor-length. Gold accents. No jewelry. Hair straightened," recited Dawn.

Ash and Brendan exchanged surprised glances, and the latter's brow knitted.

"Didn't we pass by someone like that back at the refreshments table?" asked Ash. "I thought her eyes looked kind of familiar, but hey, who's used to a May with regular-looking hair?"

"Pika!" cheeped Pikachu in agreement.

"Now that I think about it..." muttered Brendan. He rubbed his eyes. "Gah, seriously? I think she was looking at us, too."

"Wait, so you actually saw her?" asked June incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe?" said Brendan meekly.

"So let me get this straight," said Dawn. "You can't even recognize the girl you like?"

"Well, in his defense, her hair was different..." countered Ash, though he didn't sound too passionately defensive.

"Wait," said Brendan abruptly, fixing his shocked stare on Dawn. "Girl I li—...you knew?"

Dawn snorted and crossed her arms.

"Are you kidding? May's the only one who doesn't."

* * *

May stared moodily at the other masked guests of the afterparty conversing and twirling to choreography worthy of a movie. She would've mingled a long, long time ago, but she had decided a while ago that seconds (and thirds) were far more important. With a heavy sigh, she picked at the messy remnants of what used to be a sandwich as she cursed her luck and tonight, bored out of her mind and unwilling to make the first move as far as socializing with strangers.

Just then, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Something green. A familiar green.

She turned her head to study what had just caught her attention, and her eyes widened slightly. He was picking a small appetizer from the mountain of food still on the table, a nonchalant and stoic expression as ever on his face. He didn't seem to have noticed her—or perhaps he had, but he had simply chosen to ignore her.

He was clad in the same blazer, tie, and slacks as he had earlier that day for the contest, though his dark gray mask was a new addition. The plastic covered the entire upper part of the boy's face, though it left his emerald eyes alone. Even so, May didn't think she was wrong in her immediate assumption of his identity, because who even had hair with a green that reminded her of nobody else but—

"Drew?" blurted May without even a second thought.

The said boy turned at the sound of his name and his eyes searched for the source. His gaze eventually fell on May, but if he was even the slightest bit surprised, his expression didn't betray it.

They stared at each other for a good moment before he cocked his head slightly and said, "Sorry, do I know you?"

May's brow furrowed as her mouth fell slightly open.

"Wait...you don't recognize me?" she asked, moving to stand up from her seat and beginning to make her way over to Drew.

"Well, I'm sorry if a masquerade ball isn't exactly the ideal place to identify people," said Drew with a brief closing of his eyes as he flicked his hair, a tinge of haughtiness in his tone.

"I mean, I know it's been a whole day or two since we talked, but...you know me," maintained May stubbornly, now standing right in front of Drew and looking up at him with a perplexed and slightly frustrated expression on her face.

"Do I?" drawled Drew with a lazy shrug. "Sorry—"—though he didn't sound sorry at all—"—but I talk to a lot of people in the span of two days, genius."

May felt her anger begin to flare as her eyes narrowed slightly. This emotional ignition was already beginning to feel familiar to her, at least whenever she was in Drew's presence.

"How can you not recognize me?" fumed May. "I didn't even put on that much makeup!"

May wasn't sure exactly why she was so frustrated, but a corner of her mind wondered if it was just something about tonight where she was going to vent her pent-up anger on the first opportunity that came her way. Of all things, at least Drew was a pretty good martyr that May wouldn't feel guilty about later on.

He shrugged again.

"Try this, then: I probably don't recognize you because you're not actually that important to me?" he said, a smirk playing on his lips. "Otherwise I would've spent enough time to be able to know who you are, even with a mask on. Does that make sense, little girl?"

May nearly screamed.

"_What_ is _that_ supposed to mean, Drew Hayden!" she demanded, her face beginning to flush with anger.

"Do I really need to spell it out for you?" he said sarcastically, but regarding her with amused eyes.

May could practically smell the air of superiority that was radiating off of him right now.

"That is _it_!" shouted May, and she lunged for Drew, but was abruptly cut off by his hand on her forehead holding her a safe distance from him while she maniacally and ineffectively flailed.

He smirked.

"Hey, just calm down, little girl."

Once again, May fought the incredibly enticing urge to scream.

"Ugh," she grumbled as she gave up trying to maul Drew and sulkily backed off, crossing her arms and avoiding looking at Drew. "Fine! If I'm not important enough to you for you to not be able to recognize me through some plastic _mask_, then see if I care! I'm going to get air," she declared angrily, turning on her heel and heading for the glass back doors that she knew would lead outside.

After a few moments of attempting to distance herself from the green-haired monster, May was suddenly aware of his presence—the very one she had been stomping off in anger from—casually strolling along next to her. She turned and eyed him disdainfully.

"Why are you following me?" asked May suspiciously.

"Who said I'm following you?" he replied easily.

"Then why are you walking next to me and going in the same direction as me?" retorted May, smug. There was no way he could get out of that one—

"Who said I am? I just feel like going outside, and those doors happen to be the closest way out."

—or maybe not.

"That's a good joke, your Majesty," grumbled May under her breath, defeated, as they neared the glass doors.

She was turned away from him, but May could've sworn Drew smirked and quietly responded, "Thanks, commoner."

* * *

Unspoken conversation and the call of a certain month's name died on Brendan's tongue as his originally quick step slowed to a halt. A few moments ago, he had spotted a brunette who seemed to fit May's description from the other side of the room and as he had neared, it had quickly become evident that she was indeed the girl they had been looking for all night. Yet, for the next few moments, he did nothing but stand in the middle of the dance floor as his eyes watched Drew and the girl next to him who, judging by her hair, dress, and body structure, could only be May.

He had always been pretty good at reading people. Perhaps not as good as, say, Dawn or June, but infinitely better than Ash or even May.

So even though what May and Drew were doing was completely innocent—after all, they were just talking and shouting as they made their way to what seemed to be the back door—Brendan could see, even from a distance, that there was something more. Maybe it was the way that May's face was flaming with emotion, be it anger or frustration or even amusement. Or maybe it was how Drew would close his eyes for a brief moment when he chuckled at something that came out of May's mouth.

It wasn't hard to see.

Something dropped into Brendan's stomach. Possibly his heart.

His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes dulling ever so slightly as his mind began whirling. Something about disbelief, unfairness, desperation, and defeat flitted through his thoughts, but none of it really stayed long enough for him to be able to formulate any sort of concrete emotion about what was happening no more than fifteen yards away from him.

_Something like this was bound to happen eventually, wasn't it? _challenged the objective voice in his head. _Because you never had the guts to say anything_.

_So I'm a coward_, the conscience that was on his side replied flatly.

_Basically_.

Brendan sighed and ran a hand over his face, through his hair, and then back down to his face where it settled there for a moment over his eyes, blocking out his view of the rest of the world.

_It's not too late?_ ventured yet another voice, one that was more hopeful than the other two.

And even though he probably shouldn't have, Brendan then began walking after May and Drew, who had just walked out the back doors of the hall. He followed them at a pace that was considerably slower than what he had maintained earlier, his thoughts clouded and his heart heavy. His body felt a bit light, and he walked in something of a trance.

_No...it's too late_.

He blew out a breath. A small, bitter smile curved his lips.

_Damn it._

* * *

Brendan could see them despite the fact that they were several hundred yards away and whatever moonlight there was on this night was being partially obscured by fluffy clouds.

He had been watching them for the past five or so minutes in the same position: face stoic, hands in pockets, weight on one leg, body leaning against the side of the contest hall. In that time, as he had watched May and Drew stroll and talk and laugh, he had also racked his brain to wonder how and _when_ it had happened.

It couldn't have been the first impression; May had confessed to Brendan herself that Drew had left a sour taste with her as well. Maybe it started with that little Coordinating 101 lesson? Sometime during the Rustboro City contest? The afterparty? Heck, maybe even during their time to and in Vermillion City? And there was also a few days ago, when May and Drew had been out the entire day with each other—_something_ had to have happened then. Drew himself had told Brendan about May's encouragement with Drew and everything.

Alright, thought Brendan as he pressed his lips into a tight line. So there were a few times where Drew could've fixed his impression on her. But...

But what about Drew himself?

He had just confessed to Solidad, what, two days ago? Granted, his explanation of that to Brendan had immediately been followed up with Drew saying that May was the only one who had spurred him to say such a thing to the older girl, and that his feelings for Solidad had already been dying for a while, especially since...

Brendan froze.

_He said something like being "free to move on to this other girl" and how she wasn't someone he was supposed to be falling for or something, didn't he?_

As Brendan recalled the rest of that conversation, he nearly laughed out loud at the irony. He had been the one who had encouraged Drew to go after that girl and take risks and learn to love again.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice that sounded remarkably close to him.

"Why're you out here alone? More importantly, why're you smiling so sadly but idiotically?"

Brendan turned to find the source of the voice, and when he did, he smiled slightly. There, standing on the back porch of the contest hall and each with their mask off, was Ash, June, and Dawn. The one who had spoken and was regarding him with a concerned and curious expression was June.

"Didn't know I was," he replied evenly before returning his gaze to May and Drew in the distance.

Brendan could tell that the other three had followed his gaze, and especially since Ash proceeded to ask, "Is that May?"

"And Drew," said Dawn, amusement coloring her tone. She continued, "You know, I _knew_ there was something with those two, but May kept deny—" but was abruptly cut off by both Ash and June elbowing her in the side. "Ow!"

"Really," said Brendan flatly.

"We didn't mean it, Brendan," said June hurriedly. "It was...it was just, you know, meaningless gossip. It still is. You've still got a good a chance as any—"

Brendan interrupted her and said quietly, "It's alright, guys. It doesn't really matter."

"'Doesn't really matter'?" quoted June in disbelief. "Hey now, you've been rambling to me for months now about everything you feel for May and how you were going to ask her to the winter formal and worrying about how you'll be friendzoned forever."

"Hey, June's right," said Ash as he put a hand on Brendan's shoulder. "If May's what you really want, then you gotta go for her with everything you got!"

"Pika!" chirped Pikachu, both agreeing with Ash and encouraging Brendan.

"That was—and is—your problem, Brendan," said Dawn as she crossed her arms. "You've never shown May that you honestly like her, so how was she supposed to know?"

Brendan sighed.

"I've dropped a ton of hints," he mumbled. "Either way, she rejected me once anyways. The first night we were in this world, she was way too relieved when I lied and said that I only _used_ to like her."

"So?" challenged Ash. "That can change. Nothing's set in stone, especially emotions."

"Wow, Ash, that's probably the deepest thing you've ever said," Dawn sarcastically marveled.

Ash huffed, crossed his arms with an annoyed expression on his face, and retorted, "What are you saying?!"

"Anyways..." said June as she shot Dawn and Ash a look before returning her gaze to Brendan. "That's it? You're going to hang up a year and a half's worth of emotions just because May's having a few moments with some other guy?"

Brendan chuckled shortly.

"Not just 'some other guy'. Trust me, guys, I know it when I see it," said Brendan, though despite his words, that didn't mean his heart wasn't cracking as he said them. "They...have chemistry. Something I don't have with May."

"But the circumstances are so weird!" said Dawn. "That's—I mean...they probably won't even end up together..."

"I'd still hate to be the one in their way during the time they _do_ have with each other," said Brendan.

"You're an idiot," muttered June with a sigh.

"So you're really letting go of her?" said Ash with a tone of finality.

Brendan chuckled lowly and ran a hand through his hair despite the fact that he felt like he was falling apart inside. He closed his eyes and leaned into the wall behind them with a sigh, and his heart sustained another crack.

"I'll get over it."

* * *

They were strolling around in the backyards of the contest hall, which notably was also where the outdoor restaurant they had been at a few nights ago had been temporarily dismantled for the afterparty. The area was now strung with lights, decorated with a few plush chairs and coffee tables, and littered with numerous bushes and flowers. Despite all the trouble of setting up the area, aside from May and Drew, there was no one else around to enjoy it in its entirety. In May's opinion, the setting was wonderful and serene and she wondered why there weren't more guests out here.

For the past ten minutes or so, May and Drew had walked amongst the maze of plants, and they had just made their way over to the sidelines where lines of trees and bushes separated the contest hall from the unknown that was the surrounding route.

Despite the fact that nearly every single reply was a retort and each topic of conversation eventually escalated to some sort of argument, their conversation had actually flowed very easily. Despite the fact that he apparently couldn't even recognize her (really, that sort of thing only happened in movies, didn't it?), Drew's words engaged May, and she was constantly attempting to engage him as well.

"Favorite flower?" repeated Drew in disbelief, brushing a lock of hair out of his eye. "What makes you think I even have one?"

"Everybody has a favorite flower!" retorted May. "Even if you're a guy, and even if you're...well, you, Drew, you can't lie and say that you've never looked at a particular flower and admitted to yourself that it was pretty!"

"How is that relevant to that flower being my favorite?" said Drew with a smirk. "Just because I might admire it doesn't mean it's my favorite."

"No, but if there's at least one that you've ever liked, then that means that one's gotta be your favorite!" said May triumphantly.

Drew scoffed. He paused.

"Roses," he finally said, intently avoiding May's incredulous stare.

"Come again?" said May in disbelief. "Roses?"

"Got a problem?" said Drew, glaring at May through his mask.

"Not at all," said May, though she was biting back a giggle. Still, asking her to prevent the smile that was quickly overtaking her face was impossible. "You just don't seem like the type," she mused. "Is there a reason?"

After a few long moments when no response to her question came, May turned her head to her side to look for Drew. Her confusion increased when she saw that he was no longer there, and she stopped walking. She turned her body ninety degrees and found that Drew was standing a few yards behind her. His brow was furrowed and he was looking in the direction of the endless foliage that stretched beside them, searching. His right hand was resting at a spot on his belt, and May could see the PokeBall that he was fingering. May cocked her head.

"Drew?"

His eyes flickered to her face, and he raised a finger to his lips before returning his attention to the seemingly innocent shrubbery. Confused but obliging, May didn't say anything more. She tried to follow Drew's gaze, though she couldn't find anything of alarm like Drew apparently had.

A long, deathly silent moment passed.

Then, there was a flash of white and red light and May's eyes darted back in the direction of Drew just in time to see Masquerain materialize in-between them. Without missing a beat, the Eyeball Pokemon immediately launched a Hidden Power at a bush.

"Drew!" called May over the loud sound of Masquerain's powerful attack as she quickly ran back over to the green-haired boy. "What's going—" but she immediately cut herself off when, wide-eyed, her gaze flickered to the sight unraveling from the bushes.

Two figures stumbled out of the bushes groaning softly, wincing, and covered in ash. Both were wearing normal-looking clothes and seemed to be around May's age. One was a girl with teal, layered hair that fell only a few inches past her shoulders, and the other was a boy with unruly cyan hair. They took a moment to recompose themselves before straightening up and glaring at Drew and Absol, their jaws clenched.

"The hell?" snarled the boy as he clutched a spot on his arm that was unnaturally red. "Damn you..."

Drew's eyes darkened.

"Why have you been following us all night?"

At his words, May's jaw dropped and she turned to give Drew a quick look of shock before turning her attention back to the two suspicious figures. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary...

The teal-haired girl sneered.

"Wouldn't you like to know, pretty boy?" she said, almost purring the last two words as she reached for a PokeBall on her belt, enlarged it, and tossed it to reveal a Glameow. Her partner mimicked her to send out a Golbat of his own.

"They're challenging us, May," murmured Drew. "Two-on-two battle. Choose a Pokemon."

May nodded curtly before she froze in surprise.

Turning to Drew with a perplexed expression on her face and temporarily putting the matter at hand aside for a moment, she said, "You...called me 'May'? You knew who I am?"

Drew rolled his eyes before replying sarcastically, "I'm honestly insulted, May. You think I can't recognize someone just because they put on a dress and changed their hair?" May was about to open her mouth to retort yes, but Drew cut her off by exasperatedly muttering, "Just choose a Pokemon."

May nodded once more as she returned her attention to their opponents before them, her eyes narrowing. She grabbed a Ball from a cleverly concealed pocket on the skirt of her dress, enlarged it, and released Beautifly in a flash of bright light, who immediately flew up to hover next to Masquerain.

"A little cocky for someone who isn't even from our world to think they have a chance against us, isn't it?" drawled the girl, placing a hand on her hip.

May mentally fumbled at the girl's words and she actually took a moment to compose herself.

"How do you know I'm not from here?" the brunette demanded furiously, her eyes burning holes into the two smirking teenagers.

"Words gets around," replied the boy nonchalantly, examining his nails. "Golbat, Air Cutter!"

May clenched her teeth. Conversation would just have to wait.

"Beautifly, dodge and use Aerial Ace!"

* * *

Even from a distance, Brendan, Ash, June, and Dawn had seen the flashing lights and fighting Pokemon and heard the commands of the trainers. After exchanging no more than a few glances and a few nods, the four teenagers wordlessly took off down the steps of the porch and began racing for where the battle was taking place, knowing for a fact that the said battle was May and Drew against someone else.

Still, they had noticed the ongoing battle a minute or two late. Add that to the fact that it had taken them another thirty seconds to cross the distance that separated the contest hall and May and Drew's location, and it was pretty reasonable that the battle was already coming to a close with a clear victor.

"Let's go, guys! Final blow!" called May in encouragement as she exchanged a quick smile and a nod with Drew, who returned both. Without even a single word of prior communication, both May and Drew proceeded to shout in unison, "Silver Wind!"

The resulting blasts of silvery power were so destructive that their opponents' panting and weakened Pokemon were knocked out and thrown back to collide into their trainers, who stumbled and fell from the impacts. It was right then that Brendan, Ash, June and Dawn finally reached the scene, all of them slightly out of breath with the exception of Brendan.

"Perfect timing, guys," said May with a smile as she turned to her friends.

"We can talk later," promised Dawn as the blunette looked around at the scene before her.

"Hey! They're trying to get away!" shouted Ash, turning everybody's attention to the two defeated teenagers who were, indeed, in the middle of scrambling for the safety of the forest behind them.

"Not on my watch—Chikorita, use Vine Whip!" shouted June as she released her Leaf Pokemon with a toss of her PokeBall.

A second later, the teal and cyan-haired teenagers were effectively tied up and unable to move, let alone escape. Triumphant, May exchanged a look with Drew and June before walking up to the squirming captives. Ash, Brendan, and Dawn followed close behind.

"Ready to take back your words?" mocked May as she neared them.

The teal-haired girl snorted.

"Bite me."

May glared at her with a disdainful expression. The captured girl responded with a leer and a smirk.

"Who are they?" asked Dawn to May and Drew, though she didn't take her eyes off of the bound girl and boy.

"That's what we'd like to know," replied Drew flatly.

"Take a wild guess," challenged the cyan-haired boy.

Drew's eyes hardened.

"You're with Team Galactic, aren't you?"

May didn't even have time to give Drew a shocked look before she was blown away and shattered by the next words spoken, which happened to be from the teal-haired boy's mouth.

"So?" said the boy, sneering despite his situation. "Aren't_ you_?"

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

aaand that seems like a good place to end it ;)

so just in case I might need to clarify a few parts...yes, Drew was pretending to not recognize May the whole time (that boy's a riot, isn't he). The ["That's a good joke, your Majesty" "Thanks, commoner"] is a reference back to their texts in chapter 14, meaning he does know who she is. May would've realized he was lying the entire time right then, but she wasn't sure if she heard correctly or not.

Brendan let May go for good because he had a moment where he realized that Drew was getting reactions out of May that Brendan never did, and that the two were meshing in a way that he and May never have and never will mesh in. (Bajeezus, let's be honest guys, we can all sympathize with him to some degree. How many times have we let some kind of opportunity, romantic or not, slip away because we never spoke up?)

...and uhh oh yeah, the song referenced was C'mon C'mon by One Direction /bricked for life

leave a review on your way out? (Even if you don't) thanks for reading! :)

-Apheleia


	22. The Punch

Silence.

May was only vaguely aware that her mouth was hanging open.

As her eyes darted back and forth between Drew and their captives, she felt confused and even slightly disoriented. Drew's eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched as he engaged in a staring contest with the captured boy. On the other hand, the captured boy and girl were leering, pleased that they had been able to provoke such hesitation in their opponents. May's gaze wandered helplessly for a short second before finding Dawn's eyes, which were just as shocked and muddled with confusion and uncertainty as hers.

The one who finally penetratde the quiet was Brendan.

"Hey, June, isn't that the girl who was following us the other night?" he said suspiciously, and May released a mental sigh of relief, grateful for the shift in topic.

"Yeah..." murmured June, squinting her eyes as she approached the bound pair as well, playing along with Brendan and steering the conversation away from Drew. "And I saw _you_ multiple times in Goldenrod City," she accused, pointing at the boy.

Nodding stiffly, Dawn said, "And I think I remember seeing _him_ a few times in Jubilife City, too..."

"And now that I think about it, I swear I saw _you_ at the contest stands in Rustboro," realized Brendan, looking straight at the girl. "I remember because of your hair."

There was a pause.

Then Ash said the words that were on everybody's minds. His brow furrowed. "You've been following us since we got here, haven't you?" he asked. The question sounded more like an accusation.

"_Why _have you been following us?" Dawn followed up immediately.

"Wow," said the cyan-haired boy, rolling his eyes. "You guys really aren't the fastest in the processing department, are you?"

May narrowed her eyes. What was _that_ supposed to mean? What were they supposed to know?

"Hey now, let's play fair. _He,_" the captured girl began, obviously referring to Drew. "Has been around Brunette and Hottie since, what, the second or third day?" She paused to smirk before continuing, "And now he's, huh, _here_ again. Do you _really _believe in coincidences?"

May clenched her fists. She could feel the anger rising in her. It was true that Drew could be an absolute butt at times, but...

"You're wrong!" she yelled, her face flaming in fury. "Drew is _not _with Team Galactic! He's not a _coward_ like you. ...He isn't a bad person!"

The teal-haired girl bristled in irritation at the insults, but May plowed on.

"Even if Drew can be a jerk sometimes, he'd never betray his friends like that. He's...he's _good_!" she maintained stubbornly. In desperation, she turned to the boy beside her. "Right, Drew?"

Drew's unreadable eyes flickered to meet May's desperate ones, but his face was stoic and he gave no reply. May felt her palms growing clammy and her heartbeat quickening at his cryptic silence. "Drew?" she ventured again quietly, her voice cracking. "Just...say that you're not part of Team Galactic."

Another pause. Then...

"You shouldn't trust people so easily, May," he said, his voice even and hard.

May's breath stopped.

_What?_

Reeling from his words, May was overcome with a sudden need to sit down, but she didn't think she could even move, so frozen and shocked by his words as she was.

"But...but you..."

"I'm not saying I'm with Team Galactic," he continued swiftly, and May lost herself in a whirlwind of relief as quickly as her anxiety had come. "I'm saying that in your situation, you shouldn't blindly put your trust in people that you're not a hundred percent sure are your friends."

Mixed signals. That's all he was sending her, May thought dizzily. Mixed signals.

_But...he _is _a friend_, thought May, stubbornly clinging onto that ideal.

"May...he's right," came Brendan's voice, prompting the brunette to turn to look at him. His face was tense as he continued, "It was wrong for us to have told him, Solidad, and Harley so easily, even if they're not out to hurt us."

"But...but how can you say that!" maintained May stubbornly, desperately. "They've been nothing but kind to us, and—"

"He's not saying Drew, Solidad, and Harley specifically," cut in June, her tone patient. "But it's true that you and Brendan—and all of us, actually—should've been more careful about who we told about what happened to us. If we actually have Galactic goons on our tail, goons that should've disbanded years ago, then that might suggest that this might all be part of something..._bigger._"

"We shouldn't have told anybody anything before figuring out more to all this," murmured Dawn, nodding slightly. "I've never thought of it like this..."

"So in other words, you guys think we shouldn't have become friends with Drew," whispered May venomously, clenching her fists. "We shouldn't have become friends with _anybody _in this world, right?"

"Wait, May, no. It's not like that..." pleaded Brendan. "Come on, you're being unreasonable."

"C'mon, May, calm down," pleaded Ash, walking over and putting a hand on May's shoulder. At the glare she shot him, Ash immediately backed off and put his hands in the air in surrender, but continued, "I'm with you on this one, okay? I know how many friends we've all met in the couple of days that we've been here...and even if getting close to them and telling them about what's going on might have been mistakes, I'm not regretting any of it." He looked around at the rest of their circle of friends, determinedly meeting each person in the eye.

May nodded and blinked back tears. At least Ash was on her side.

"Hey...crap, guys," said June hurriedly, and May turned inquisitively at the worry in the blonde's voice. "Where'd they go?"

"Where'd who—" began May, but she abruptly cut herself off when she found Chikorita's Vine Whip ropes in tangles on the ground. No prisoners were in their grip.

"Damn it!" cursed Brendan as he ran over to the heap of Vine Whip. His eyes narrowed as he bent down to inspect the ropes.

"Agh!" groaned Ash in frustration as he furiously turned his head from side to side, searching. He ran over to the edge of the foliage and squinted in an attempt to make out any figures that resembled their escaped captives, but to no avail.

"Any sign, Ash?"

The raven-haired boy shook his head, still staring into the dark brush for one last sweep of the area before he would give up hope. "No," he finally sighed, turning around and trudging back to his friends.

"Wow," whispered Dawn.

And that was all that could be said. For a moment, that was all anyone could say as the six teenagers stood there, frozen.

"Well, this definitely changes things," said Brendan with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's proof that Team Galactic isn't dead like everyone thought."

"Even better? They're apparently following us. Something's happening, guys," she said slowly. "Something Team Galactic knows about—and it involves us."

"Hey, wild guess, but you know, if we're talking about Team Galactic, then...I bet there's universal domination involved," mused Dawn.

"And when there's world domination and Team Galactic, there's probably Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina," reasoned Ash. "So hey, we were actually pretty spot-on with our theories about Giratina, huh?"

"The important part is what all this means for you guys," said Drew quietly.

Once again, everyone in the circle fell quiet. For a few moments, May found her mind wandering. In fact, _racing _would have been a better term; the only thing was that she just happened to be racing in circles.

"Let's go in," murmured Dawn at last, tiredly rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah. Plus, it's raining..." he trailed off as he looked up at the sky.

May mirrored him and found that it was indeed raining harder than it had been before. She frowned. She hadn't even noticed the drizzle up until now.

"Keep an eye out for the rest of the night, guys...but let's try to enjoy the rest of the party. After all, there's still food left. Right, Pikachu?" he said, grinning as he turned his neck to look at the Mouse Pokemon on his shoulder.

"Pikaaa!" cooed Pikachu in agreement, snuggling deeper into Ash's neck.

Each person in the group exchanged a look with another, and simultaneously, they all nodded in agreement. With Ash and Dawn leading the pack, everyone turned and began heading back in the direction of the contest hall.

Everyone except May, who didn't move a muscle.

The brunette closed both of her hands into loose fists and squeezed both of them once, gathering her courage. She swallowed. Then she hesitantly called out, "Drew?"

The green-haired boy had been walking back in silence alongside Brendan, and the two boys had been trailing behind all the others. Drew stopped and turned to look back inquisitively at May. Brendan paused for a moment, looked between May and Drew, gave a curt nod, and resumed his trek back to the hall. Both May and Drew watched him until he was out of earshot, a good hundred or so yards away. Finally, Drew turned back to the brunette.

"What is it, May?"

"Can I...talk to you?"

After one last look in the direction of their friends and the contest hall, Drew nodded curtly and began walking towards May, his eyes on the ground. He stopped when he was about a yard or so away. He raised his gaze, and just like that, for a moment, emeralds and sapphires met.

Then he closed his eyes. "You are," he said, the faintest smile on his lips.

May smiled softly, and she momentarily averted her own gaze to the ground. She cleared her throat. "I heard what happened when you...that night," she said awkwardly, trying to both tackle and dodge the topic of Drew's rejection.

May stopped talking and peered up expectantly at Drew, willing for him to give a sign that he was listening before she continued. She waited until Drew, curious and confused, reopened his eyes to meet hers.

May swallowed once and then, as steadily and confidently as she could, said, "So...basically, Drew, I just wanted...to..." but she cut herself off when she was suddenly pounded by a torrent of fat drops of water.

Stunned, May looked upwards at the sky, but she hadn't needed to do so to realize that the drizzle from earlier had turned into an absolute downpour. The next moment, she was looking down, blinking, and gaping at the sight of her utterly soaked, _rental _dress clinging to her body. She looked up, her mouth still open, and met Drew's equally surprised eyes.

There was a moment of disbelieving silence.

Then a small laugh escaped May.

She couldn't help it—this was all so _ridiculous_. She heard Drew's chuckle join in with her as the sound of her laughter grew. Her smile was actually so wide that it was starting to hurt her face, but it didn't matter. Especially not when Drew himself was grinning like an idiot, and May suddenly realized that this was the first time she had ever seen him smile like that.

It was nice. Really nice. Perfect, even...

"You should smile like that more often," she blurted.

His laughter quickly died but both his smile and gaze were still amused, though slightly questioning.

"A-ah, I mean—" said May hastily, putting her hands up as if in surrender as a light blush quickly coated her cheeks. "You should just...I mean...ah ha ha er..." she stammered sheepishly and lowered her stare from Drew to the ground in shame.

For the next few seconds, May heard the sound of a low, quiet chuckle as it seemed to continuously get closer and closer. When a pair of black slacks and matching loafers entered May's line of vision, she looked up and was promptly met with the sight of Drew's bemused face no more than two feet away from her own. She was taken aback by surprise when she felt him grasp her forearm, and then they were laughing and running for the cover of the nearby trees and foliage.

Before she knew it, both of them were standing against the trunk of a particularly fat tree, their breathing slightly labored from both the laughing and running. All worries of exposing their clothes to bark and dirt had been thrown out the window the moment their said clothes had been completely drenched by the pouring rain.

May, still exhilarated, looked over at Drew, a faint smile on her lips. Not even a moment later, he turned his head as well, and May saw a boyish, playful flame in his eyes as his lips curved once more. Before long, both of them were smiling and giggling again.

May didn't even know why they were laughing. They just were.

And somehow, it felt inexplicably _right. _

May's laughter died away as another thought suddenly pervaded her mind, a realization that was instantly gripping and worrying and terrible and terrifying. She knew what was happening.

Why was this happening?

May quickly lost herself in her own thoughts, hardly even noticing Drew's concerned and perplexed gaze or the fact that his own laughter had stopped a while ago and that the only sound surrounding them now was the rain.

_This can't be happening..._

Still, a quiet call of, "May," from the boy beside her was more than enough to bring the brunette back to reality.

She didn't look at him. She couldn't. Not with this new realization unleashing waves of terror and confusion and bad omens and, yet, _something else _throughout her entire body even though she didn't want it to...

"Yes, Drew?" she replied just as softly.

"Question."

"Hm?"

"_Why_...or _how _are you so confident that I'm not bad news for you?"

May's eyes flew open at the question and, despite her inner turmoil, she shot Drew a shocked look. He didn't seem to have noticed, though; his eyes were focused on a spot in the distance, probably the sky.

May racked her brain for an answer. What kind of a question was this? A test? "_Are _you?" she whispered, even though she knew the answer. At least, she _hoped _she knew the answer.

He turned to her, a small smile on his lips but a tense darkness and hardness in his eyes. "What if I am?"

"But you're not," May replied stubbornly. What was he getting at? May caught a flicker of something of a small smirk passing over his face right before Drew tiredly reached up a hand to run a hand over his face and through his hair.

"How are you so positive?" he murmured tiredly from beneath his hand.

"What do you mean?"

"How can you just assume the good in people like that?" he wondered, and May swore she detected hints of frustration in his tone. "Just find it and cling onto it like nothing else, even if you don't know everything?"

"People _are _good," replied May after a moment of hesitation, though still unsure of where this conversation was going. "Or, at least, they were born good, but...for some people, something happens along the way. But that something isn't their fault, is it? You can't blame them."

May paused. Drew was silent. So she went on.

"I think everybody has a story. You can't judge just based on their actions and words...you have to know _everything_. That's why so many people are misunderstood. Other people think they know everything or, at least, enough about them to judge them...but they don't. Because there's always something more underneath the surface, something _human _and...logical."

A pause.

"...There's a lot of bad people in this world, and undoubtedly yours, too," said Drew carefully. "Do you believe that about everybody?"

Slowly, May nodded and squarely met Drew's eyes with her own, seriousness etched into every single corner of her face. "I do."

There was a moment when Drew's expression was unreadable and stoic as ever.

Then a rare, small, tender smile graced his lips and his expression softened. "I've never met anybody like you," he said with a light chuckle as he closed his eyes, but even with the small bout of laughter, the way he said it still made May believe every single word.

And the way that those words made her feel was both terrible and breathtaking. "...Thank you," she murmured, suddenly more self-conscious than she had ever been while in Drew's presence. After a few seconds, she followed up—lightly enough, she hoped—with, "So it's my turn to say something now."

"Go ahead," said Drew casually, fixing his gaze on the brunette.

Taking a deep breath, May stepped away from the trunk of the tree so that she was in front of Drew. She looked down at her feet, fidgeting as she searched for the right words.

"Well, actually, I've wanted to say this for a while now, but I guess it's just wasn't the right time earlier, and...and I guess we were avoiding each other for a little while there, too, huh?" she said nervously, adding a short, sheepish laugh. "I mean, I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I'm really sorry, Drew. I shouldn't have butted in and told you to tell Solidad about how you felt. It wasn't my business and I'm sorry about how everything ended up."

After a few seconds of nothing but silence from Drew, May was starting to worry. Truthfully, she had been expecting something along the lines of "It's alright, May" or "Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault" or even "Yeah, you're completely right about all that, so get out of my life and never come back".

She was surprised to instead hear the words, "How did you know how it ended?" spoken in a tone that wasn't at all angry, and actually more amused.

"I overheard you and Brendan talking that night," said May without a second thought, and her eyes widened as soon as her mind registered what she had actually said. "I—I mean, I wasn't _eavesdropping _or anything, I swear, I was just passing by—"

"I know," said Drew, effectively cutting off the brunette's rambling. "Don't worry about it. I was just wondering."

"So..." trailed off May, finally gathering the hope and courage to look up at Drew again. "You're not mad?"

"Nah," he replied as he stuck his hands into his pockets. "In any case, a ditz like you, I'm pretty impressed that you even managed to fit the pieces together."

May smiled. Laughed, even. Not at his poor excuse for an insult, but at the fact that she was forgiven. This entire ordeal had been relentlessly plaguing her mind ever since she overheard about Drew's rejection, and now, it was a huge weight off of her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said, a smile of pure gratitude and relief lighting up her face. "But, you know, it's not over. One time rejected is nothing, after all. I'll even help you with Solidad but, you know, by your rules this time."

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Guess you didn't hear that part of the conversation."

May blinked. "What part?"

"The part where I told Brendan—...never mind," he said, adding the last part under his breath.

"Where you told Brendan...?"

"I said never mind."

"But you told Brendan!" protested May.

"Because he's a better confidante about things like this," replied Drew swiftly, flicking a lock of hair for good measure.

"Well—that—!" stammered May, but getting nowhere with her words. The brunette pouted and narrowed her eyes. She couldn't exactly deny that.

"Then again, it's not exactly important anymore, so I guess I could tell you..." said Drew with a careless shrug.

"Great, tell me about the _unimportant _things. It'll be great for my self-esteem," said May dryly.

Drew smirked. "If you insist. Because I know you still feel bad about indirectly causing me all this heartache and you can't sleep at night because of it, so I guess I'll just _have _to tell you for your own good," he drawled, his tone both teasing and cocky.

May rolled her eyes and, under her breath, muttered, "Lucky me..."

"I already knew that my feelings for Solidad were going away. I was upset because...it was a pride thing when I asked her to be my partner for the contest. The rejection didn't actually hit me as hard as you might think because—"

May quirked an eyebrow and inquisitively studied Drew's face when he abruptly cut himself off. He was now deliberately avoiding looking at her, and she swore there was a tinge of color across his face.

"Because..." she encouraged, willing him to go on.

"Because..." muttered Drew, trailing off again.

He sighed and, slowly, forced his gaze back to the brunette in front of him until he was looking her straight in the eye. "Because lately, there's been someone else," he said slowly, cautiously. "Someone who it shouldn't be. Someone who's been causing a mess in my head. It's...someone who I haven't been able to stop thinking about for a while, and the reason why is different every time."

At his words, May's heart faltered for a beat. Still, she smiled. "Make sure you never tell me who she is," she joked. "I don't want to give you any ideas again."

His lips curved up into something halfway between a smirk and a smile. His eyes closed and he pressed more of his weight back into the tree. "To be honest, I think this time would be different."

"Really," said May, the word sounding like both a statement and a question.

There was a pause. Then...

"...Do you know why I'm telling you all this?"

"As long as you were just kidding about earlier? ...Not really," replied May truthfully._  
_

"Good," said Drew with a sigh.

May was instantly slightly relieved that something along the lines of "no" had apparently been the right answer. Still, his next five words threw her for a bit of a loop.

"I'm not so sure myself."

* * *

"_Fools_!" shouted a male adult's voice into his phone machine, and the sounds of both his exclamation and the bang of his hands on the table echoed through the room.

"Please, sir, we swear it wasn't our fault—" began a female voice on the other line weakly.

"Wasn't your fault, eh? You were given _one_ simple, _menial _task. Please _do _give me your excuse," the man snarled.

"Now look here, old man," started another voice, one of that of a teenage boy's. "Like _you _could've ever followed them half as well as we did, you—"

"Might I remind you of what exactly will happen to your dear, dear brother if you happen to, say, defy me?"

Silence.

That shut up them, the man thought satisfactorily as he sneered.

"Excellent," he continued conversationally. "Now, you _will _continue to follow them. I want to know _everything _about them. If you dare otherwise, please remember your adorable little Nicky."

And without even waiting for another response, he pressed the "end call" button.

He leaned back into his chair. His cold blue eyes watched the gagged and bound boy on the other side of his desk, the small child's own blue eyes blazing with unadulterated hatred.

"I do apologize, Nicky," he drawled. "But your siblings have already lost one chance. One more mistake and you'll be...well, I hardly think now is the time to dwell on such theatrics, wouldn't you agree?"

Nicky glared, but the man could see the tears beginning to collect in the corner of the boy's eyes.

He smirked. "You know, Nicky...the only thing I'm a bit bewildered by is the fact that when we, ah...picked you up, you didn't have any Pokemon with you. I wonder why that is?"

The boy didn't respond—then again, with duct tape over his mouth, it wasn't as if he could've. The man smiled wickedly.

"Then again...it doesn't really matter, does it?"

* * *

Drew hadn't been impressed by a contest afterparty in a long time. This one wasn't much different from the others; in fact, beneath the fancy masquerade surface, there was even less substance than the others. At least the Grand Festival ones had decent entertainment and fireworks.

So he was doing the same thing he usually did at afterparties.

Watch everybody else from a corner of the room that was near the food.

Occasionally, a brave fan (typically a girl) would ask him to dance, though he usually politely declined. It was more likely that a group of them would come and ask for autographs; he'd quickly scrawl those with a strained, polite smile. For the most part, though, he simply watched scenes unraveling in front of him or thought about performance combinations over a cup of punch.

Tonight was special, though. Instead of what he usually thought about, Drew's mind was preoccupied with something else. Some_one _else. Someone whom he had ran back into the afterparty with a few hours ago after both of them decided that the rain had let up slightly and decided that that moment was a good time to escape to dryness. Someone who, a minute later after they got back, was quickly stolen away by her friends. Drew supposed he could've tagged along, but after everything that had happened, he had decided that it was appropriate to let the group of friends have a few hours to themselves.

Drew had been aimlessly replaying the earlier events of the night in his mind when he noticed a suspicious trio of younger teenage boys creep up to one of the punch bowls on the other side of the room. He raised an eyebrow as one of them slipped a vial from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and poured the clear liquid into the refreshment. One of them was doing all he could to keep from howling with laughter, and none of them noticed Drew watching. They slinked away as inconspicuously (or, in Drew's opinion, conspicuously) as they'd arrived.

Once they left, Drew casually left his corner to cross the room to the particular bowl, dodging dancers and socialites as he did so. Upon arrival, he cautiously poured himself a cup. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it warily. It still smelled of mostly punch, but...

_Brats. They spiked it. _Shaking his head in disgust, Drew set the cup back down by the bowl._ They're getting more annoying every season_, he thought bitterly, glaring at the bowl of adulterated punch.

"Hey, Drew!" exclaimed a cheery voice from behind him.

He turned and immediately recognized the newcomer. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "Hey, May."

Beaming at him, she asked, "Hey, are you going to drink that punch?"

"Uh, no, but—"

He was abruptly cut off by May reaching past him for the refreshment. Before he could say anything, she had raised the cup to her lips and began downing the liquid.

"May, you shouldn't—" he began, but cut himself off when the contents of the cup were already somehow mostly gone.

Drew stared blankly at her. How ridiculous could people get?

"Ahh," she said with a contented sigh, putting the empty plastic cup back on the table. "Thanks! That hit the spot. So, what were you saying, Drew?"

Drew kneaded the bridge of his nose and sighed. _A walking headache. _"Nothing, May. Just...wanted to say that those were really nice combinations today," he ad-libbed lamely.

A slightly confused expression was plastered on May's face but she went along with it anyways. "Thanks...? But they weren't nearly as good as yours were."

Drew shrugged. "But you won. And that's all that really matters."

May broke out in a small, tender smile.

"Then again," he continued with a flick of his hair. "It was just beginner's luck. That and the fact that you had Solidad to take a few falls, too."

May's mouth fell open and her eyes narrowed in anger. "'Just beginner's luck'? Hey now, mister, it came down to nothing more than the two of us there and you know—!"

A few seconds passed. Drew furrowed his brow. May had just abruptly cut herself off for seemingly no good reason. He watched on in concern as the girl's breathing grew a bit more labored and her face flushed. One of her hands had been brought up to cradle her temple, and the other one was on the refreshments table as if she needed help to simply stand.

"May?" he said, worry in his tone. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just..." She groggily looked up at him, and Drew noted that her eyes were a bit glazed. "I suddenly got a little lightheaded. Just give me a moment..."

Drew watched as May attempted to balance again on her own power but failing as she still staggered and clutched the table. She finally faltered a few seconds later when a passerby accidentally bumped her arm. In a flash, Drew reached out to catch her.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" the cerulean-haired girl exclaimed as her eyes darted worriedly back and forth between Drew and the fallen brunette in his arms. Drew recognized her as one of his first round opponents. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's just...tired," he lied.

The girl eyed May's form, obviously unconvinced as a frown overtook her face. "Does she need help? My Chansey could—"

"No," he cut her off, smiling politely. "Thanks, though."

"Say something if she really needs help, though. I'm here," she comforted.

"Yeah. Thanks. Really."

The girl nodded as she stepped away from the duo and disappeared into the crowd. Drew watched her go before turning his attention back to May whose eyes were closed and body was sprawled over both the floor and his lap. He sighed. "May. C'mon, get up."

He received nothing from the brunette except an unintelligible groan.

"Come_ on. _Get up," he encouraged.

No response.

The corner of Drew's mouth pulled down. This is why he hated kids. With another sigh, he swiftly put a hand under her knees and his other on her far arm. With a small grunt of effort, he was able to rise to his feet while carrying May—dare he say it—bridal-style.

Not exactly how he was planning for his night to go, he thought bitterly as he wove through the crowd of party guests. A few were daring enough to watch him bemusedly for a few long seconds, and Drew tried his best to ignore both those people and the blush undoubtedly creeping up onto his cheeks. He was nearly at the exit when a familiar blunette approached him.

"Drew?" He turned at the sound of his name and found none other than Dawn blinking at him. She squinted at the girl in his arms. "Is that May?"

"Yeah."

"Did you..." Her nose wrinkled. "Did you, uh, _do _something to her?"

Drew's jaw almost dropped (but for what it was worth, he _did_ feel his eye twitch). "That's pretty offensive, Berlitz."

"Hey, hey," she said, putting her hands up in surrender. "Just covering my bases. But really, what happened to her?"

"Some kids spiked the punch in the back corner of the next room over and she's the only one ditzy enough to have been the first to drink it," he replied airily. "Do me a favor; go back and get rid of that punch. Drop things into it or just pour it into the trash. Do whatever so that other people won't drink it."

Dawn nodded, still eyeing the nearly unconscious brunette in Drew's arms. "And you?"

"I'll take her back to your room at the center," he said with a curt nod. "Give me your room key."

* * *

By the time Drew was outside of room 129, his step had already become more resembling of hobbling and both his arms and lower back were aching.

"She's heavier than she looks," he muttered under his breath as he awkwardly slid Dawn's room key into the door while still attempting to balance May.

The moment the small bulb flashed green and a timid beep sounded, Drew retrieved the key and pushed the door open. Sidestepping the clothing carelessly littered on the floor (as well as, to his chagrin, a few more _intimate _pieces), he ignored the aching of his muscles once more to make his way over to the bed that hosted May's signature yellow backpack on its pillow.

Journeying does nothing for upper body strength, he thought wryly as he began shifting May into a better position in which to lay her down in. _Maybe I should start hitting some gyms... _

Right as he was wondering whether or not all Pokemon centers had weight rooms, May stirred.

"Drew...?" she whispered groggily, her eyes half-open and unfocused.

"May," he replied immediately, balancing one arm beside her head so that he was able to hover over her. "Are you okay?"

May blinked exactly twice. "Drew..." she breathed, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

"Yeah?" he whispered, unconsciously lowering his face another inch. "What?"

"Your 'air...is 'o _greeen_!" she slurred as her face suddenly lit up like a child's on Christmas morning. The sound of her delighted laugh rang through the room and suddenly, Drew felt himself being pulled down by his head onto the bed.

He wasn't sure how May had managed it—she was surprisingly strong for someone of her caliber, or maybe it was just an intoxicated-May thing—but Drew soon found himself (or rather, his _neck_) being cuddled by May's arm as th_e _other mussed up his hair. The upper half of his body was being awkwardly twisted and crushed by May; the other was hanging limply off the side of the bed.

"I mean...it's just 'ot '_ooormal_!" continued May as she continued to mess with Drew, who was still in no condition to fight back as he wince from each hard tug of his hair that May made. "D'you...d'you _dye _it or summat?" She paused. "Hee hee..._dye..._get it...because your hair _is _dead! Get it, Drew?"

"Yeah," he muttered until his breath, reaching up to pry himself out of May's grip while trying not to injure her. "I get it."

"Waaait! Dreeew! I need teh talk to youuu!" whined May, pouting, and before Drew knew it, she had flipped him onto his back and his body was now sprawled across the better half of the bed. Now slightly disoriented, it was a moment before he realized that his head was being laid on May's lap and that she was peering down at him with a friendly, _innocent _grin.

Tired and not really seeing a point in fighting it any more, Drew rubbed his eyes and wearily replied, "Talk about what?"

Drew swore her grin grew half an inch wider before it completely disappeared and was replaced with the most serious expression he had ever seen May wear. "Drew...what are we?"

Drew blinked. "_What_?"

"I've 'ought abou' 'is...Are we...frans? But you're too meaaan for 'at...but we're not _rivals _'cause I ain't no serious coordinator...but we're not _enemies _because that even...doesn't even..." She yawned. "...work."

"Um..." _What is she talking about? _"How about we discuss this after you let me sit up, May?" he suggested, squirming as he inconspicuously inched his hand closer to his pocket.

"Nnnno way, mister! You're staying riiiiiigh' heeya 'til you answer my question!"

"C'mon, May, be reasonable," he sighed while his hand searched for the right PokeBall. "Let me up..."

"Afta you answer!" retorted May, her expression becoming stern and slightly annoyed as her grip tightened. Her face was red, but Drew couldn't be sure if that was anger or the punch.

"Um...I don't know," muttered Drew, wincing; her nails were beginning to dig into his skin. "Friends?"

May blinked and Drew could practically see the annoyance melt off of her face as surprise settled in. "Really?"

"What else?"

"...You treat y'friends pretty crappily, Drew," said May matter-of-factly.

"I know that," he muttered, breathing a mental sigh of relief as his hand finally closed around the right PokeBall. He slipped the device out from his pocket. There was a dull thud as the sphere hit the carpeted floor and a flash of light that went unnoticed by May.

"Why, though?"

"What?"

"Why d'you act like you do...being such a jerk one mom'nt but 'tually decent the next?"

"I'm not sure how to respond to that," muttered Drew honestly.

"Drew..." she whispered, her eyes focused on him again. They were serious, he noted. Serious...and deep...and wide...and so_ damn blue. _"Drew, I wanna get to know you."

And just like that, suddenly, inexplicably, Drew felt like a Deerling in headlights.

He wasn't sure why, but somehow, those slurred, drunken words had made him speechless.

"Wait...Drew...I think I'm getting...sleepy..." murmured May, her eyelids drooping.

"That's okay," assured Drew, finding his voice again as he began sliding out of her loosening grip.

He stole a glance at Roserade, who was standing beside the bed and behind May so that she was out of May's line of vision. The Pokemon's eyes were very much amused and her bouquets of roses were still faintly glowing from the Sleep Powder they had just released. After a curt nod and a look that plainly said _I'll-explain-later_, Drew turned his attention back to the brunette.

"Just relax," he muttered as he finally got back onto his feet and straightened.

"Drew, I...I still have something to ask you..." mumbled May, and by the way her words were dying, Drew knew that the girl was only seconds away from succumbing to Roserade's Sleep Powder.

"Yeah, May?"

Silence.

"...Never mind. I'll tell you..." She sighed. "Tomorrow..."

Then her head lolled limply to her side. And just like that, Drew knew that she was fast asleep. He smiled softly.

Drew stood there for a short while, doing nothing but watching the brunette no more than a yard or so away from him. After a few moments, he took a step forward so that he was right beside her bed. He knelt down onto one knee.

For a second, he deliberated.

And then he was leaning forward and brushing her forehead with a chaste touch of his lips. Drew lingered for a second that was as long as the one he had spent deliberating before he pulled away, another small smile lighting his face. He reached into his blazer pocket and gently placed an item in the curve of her neck.

Satisfied, he stood up and, after one last glance back at the brunette's slumbering figure, turned to leave while motioning for his Pokemon to follow after him.

Amused, Roserade gave one more look at the girl on the bed before turning and following after her trainer. As they left the room and shut the door behind them, Roserade, under her breath, sighed, "Rose, _rose_..."

Which, translated into English, probably sounded something like "He's got it _bad_..."

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

got it bad? ehhh at least they're still cute

...I haven't updated in almost a month and I have no idea what to say in defense. xD Idk, I had, like, 3/4 of this done weeks ago...but I just couldn't bring myself around to finish that last scene. idk why but it was hard and not really how I was expecting it to turn out (butforeheadkissesarestillthe cutestthingseeeeeeeeee)

(...my swim season's finally ends this weekend and I don't have anything else on my roster as far as writing [ahem savoir faire ahem] so yes, expect an update xD)

Thanks for reading! and leave a review? :)


	23. The Coffee

Dawn had been stirring for a few minutes, and it was now that she decided to finally open her eyes, sit up, rub her eyes, and slide off of her bed with a subdued yawn.

A quick scan of the room told her that the time was a few minutes to seven A.M. (good, more time for showering this morning, she thought). The sun was just beginning to paint the sky light, and May and June were both still sound asleep.

Ah, well. The blunette had always had a good internal clock.

With another yawn and eye rub, she crossed the room and headed for the bathroom. When she was passing by May's bed, though, she stopped.

_What's that next to May?_ she wondered, her curiosity getting the better of her. She walked over so that she was at the head of the brunette's bed and leaned over to get a better look of the mystery object resting beside May's neck. What she saw made her head tilt and her eyebrow raise.

_Is that a rose?_

The blunette blinked twice and rubbed her eyes again just to make sure she was seeing things right. Sure enough, that was a rose.

A _red_ rose.

_But May's not the type to randomly sleep with flowers...and she drank that punch last night and passed out or something, so she couldn't have gone anywhere, and Drew brought her back—_

Dawn froze. She quickly put two and two together, and just for good measure, checked the math again. A few seconds later, a knowing grin spread over the blunette's face.

Oh, this was going to be good.

Eyes lighting up mischievously, she leaned over and reached to tuck the rose so that it was farther away from view. Her action, however, was impeded by her hand simply passing straight through the thornless stem.

With a sigh and a furrow of her eyebrows, Dawn retreated her hand and examined it wearily. A second later, she clenched it, and her eyes turned hard. It didn't take a genius to note that this phenomenon had been occurring more and more often lately. Not to mention, there'd been times when her entire arm would go translucent just as her hand was doing now.

_At this rate, it's only a matter of time before my entire body starts disappearing..._

* * *

The entire morning, the group of eight traveled west from Eterna to the coast where a moderately-sized pier was aging. They had purchased tickets some half-hour ago, and now, they were waiting on the docks for a green light for them to begin boarding. Until then, Dawn and June and Solidad and Ash and Harley were animatedly talking about..._something_, Brendan was dozing off in the seat on the other side of Drew, and said green-haired boy was staring blankly at nothing in a very him-like fashion.

May was antsy and her foot was restless as it impatiently tapped the floor. She was constantly crossing and uncrossing her arms, and the reason for her restlessness probably had something to do with the green-haired boy sitting some four inches away from her.

Yes, she had awoken that morning to none other than June's hearty exclamation of, "Oooooooooh, somebody's got an _admirer_!" in May's ear. The blonde had then quickly proceeded, with Dawn's help, to reason that the gesture had been from Drew and that there was something going on with May and the boy whether the former liked it or not.

(May had been speechless to respond, not that it mattered anyway.)

The rose itself was currently unceremoniously stashed in May's bag (which was a shame, considering it really was a perfect little thing) and despite the fact that it couldn't have physically weighed more than a few ounces, it'd been making her backpack feel like a knapsack of bricks all morning. In truth, the brunette was aching to ask Drew about it...and, well, considering he was right next to her, this was really the perfect chance, wasn't it?

Taking in a breath and turning to Drew, May opened her mouth to say, _Did you leave that rose? ...Why? _Somehow, the words, "Did-...do you know what day it is? Here?" came out instead.

Drew turned to her with a slightly raised eyebrow but, without missing a beat, replied, "December 15th."

"I...see-wait, really? December fifteenth?" she reconfirmed incredulously.

"Yeah..." He studied her curiously. "Why're you asking?"

"If we were in our old world, today, it'd be...it'd be the third. December third," murmured May, scrunching her brow. "That's a twelve-day difference...but that's such a random number."

"Maybe you're overthinking it," said Drew with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "It could be just an alternate-dimension thing."

"Yeah...maybe," mumbled May, but the uncertainty was still evident in her expression.

A light smirk broke out on Drew's face. "Don't make that face, Maple. Too much thinking and your brain might overheat and explode."

"Wha...what's that supposed to mean!"

"Come on," he said as his smirk grew. "The ship's almost here. If you think too hard, we're going to have to get a bucket for your melted remains, and that's asking a bit too much from us, don't you think?"

* * *

Leaf stood with her forearms resting on the railing that separated the streets of Canalave City from the pier of the river that split the town in two. A light breeze toyed with her hair as her eyes scrutinously studied the papers she was holding in her hands.

Her concentration had been one hundred percent, but she abruptly became jolted out of her train of thought by a coffee cup being shoved in front of her face. She eyed the brown plastic cup for a full second before turning her head to look at the person holding it.

"What took so long?" she said stoically as she took the cup, the scent of hot mocha latte quickly wafting into her nose. Inside, she melted.

"A simple 'thank you' would've been enough," said Gary, lifting his own cup to his lips for a quick sip. When he brought it back down, he continued, "And I was gone five minutes."

"Seven, actually," corrected Leaf.

He chuckled and coolly moved to lean against the railing. "You didn't have to miss me that much."

"I didn't, I was waiting for the—"

"Coffee, yeah, I know, I know. Saw that coming a mile away."

Rolling her eyes, Leaf sarcastically said, "Ah shucks, you know me too well."

"A perk of being childhood friends," said Gary with a slight nod and another sip of his drink.

"Sure," said Leaf noncommittally, turning her gaze back to the packet in her hand.

"So, anything new?"

"Same old, same old," mumbled Leaf as she nonchalantly flipped through a few pages. "Arceus was the light, Giratina was the dark. This thing kind of brings up that theory in the gold book with four Beings of Lakes, but..."

"But?"

Leaf frowned. "But it wouldn't make sense. The war thing between Giratina and Arceus was at the same time there was the hypothetical a fourth Being. If there was a fourth Being, and it was in trouble, then why didn't Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf go and fight for them? They're compassionate creatures, but it's like they ditched their brother for the war."

"We're missing something," said Gary with a sigh. Then he cast a sidelong look and smirk at Leaf. "But we're getting somewhere. At the very least, this is farther than you ever got alone. Admit it."

Leaf scrunched her brow, rolled her eyes, muttered, "Ten times farther than _you_ ever got, stupid," and then raised her cup to her lips, drinking her latte for the first time. "...Oh my God, this is_ so. Good._"

"Kind of what she said," said Gary, looking amused as he watched a disapproving expression cross Leaf's face.

"I'm going to kick your ass," muttered Leaf.

Gary grinned lazily at her. "You just can't get enough of my ass, can you?"

And then Leaf had a double-take and promptly spit out a mouthful of her latte with some follow-up choking for good measure. All the while, Gary was watching her amusedly.

"Knew it," he said smugly. "Point is, you..."

His voice was lowering with each word he drawled, and soon, it was no more than a husky whisper.

"_Probably._.. "

He was leaning in closer and closer, and only a fraction separated their faces.

"Love..."

His breath smells like caramel frappe...

"Every..._ inch._ Of. Me."

Leaf stared blankly at him with a completely unreadable expression, but inside, some sort of nuclear explosion had gone off and her insides were ravaged and her heart was both hammering and flatlining and her palms were seconds away from becoming clammy and every nerve was suddenly electrified and something terribly uncomfortable had just spawned in her stomach and-

Leaf snorted in a rather unladylike fashion. "In what world?" she said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

With a tight smile and, Leaf knew, a scrutinous gaze intent on either getting her to slip up somehow or figuring things out for himself, Gary backed away.

"Why not both?"

* * *

May sat with her knees pulled up to her chest five yards from the railing of the ship and a plunge into the surrounding dark, rippling waters. A light breeze toyed with her hair as the brunette released a sigh and wearily closed her eyes. As tired as she was, ever since about half an hour ago, she hadn't been able to fall back asleep.

The sole reason had been because of the flickering her body had been doing.

It wasn't just her fingers and hands and arms anymore-no, when she had gone to the bathroom for a drink of water and looked in the mirror, what she saw had shocked her enough for her to promptly drop her half-filled cup. Her entire torso, including her clothes, had been some degree of half-transparent and it scared her to no end. Shaky and terrified, May had forgotten all about her water, ambled back to bed, and had more trouble going back to sleep when she realized that her _covers were passing through her body._

So she had ended up out here, where the dim moon and starlight and general darkness of the surroundings were enough to at least _kind_ of make it look as if May was solid matter.

"Didn't expect to see you out here," said a voice, a familiar voice that sounded about five meters away.

May turned her head to look at the newcomer, who was leaning casually against the ship railing as the wind toyed with his chartreuse hair. Three meters, she mentally amended. "And why's that?" she mumbled, drawing her knees up even closer to her chest.

Drew watched her casually. "You'll turn into a Pokeball," he said, slightly wearily.

"What?"

"Your...curling up," he said, gesturing to May with an awkward wave of his hand. "What's the matter? Not everybody sits on a ship deck like that."

There was a pause.

"...I'm scared," confessed May in a whisper, her eyes avoiding looking at Drew.

"Of?" said Drew, raising an eyebrow.

"A lot." Upon Drew's evidently dissatisfied silence, May continued. "I...more of my body's flickering. Turning transparent...it used to just be a hand, but now..."

Drew nodded. "It happens to Brendan and Ash too...does it at least stop after a while?"

"...It should. It has every other time," but even as she said that, there was a tremor in her voice that even May herself could hear.

"You'll be fine," assured Drew, turning around to lean his forearms in the railing and looking out over the water, and May wondered what he was looking at in this darkness. A few long moments passed as she tried to look for something to watch but to no avail. it was then that it dawned on her that her silence had signified the end of that conversation.

So, with a clear of her throat, she started a new one. "Drew...were you the one who left that rose?"

May saw a slight rise and fall of the boy's shoulders. "Who knows?" he drawled casually.

"I do," returned May.

"It was for Beautifly," he replied, without missing a beat. "Her performance at the contest earlier was great, and I hoped you were going to pass on the message. Apparently, the coordinator still has a lot to learn...in_ both_ cases."

May's jaw dropped. "What?"

"You heard me," said Drew, turning around to face May with the biggest smirk on his face. "She's a beautiful Pokemon. It's a shame she ended up with you somehow..."

"Drew Hayden!" screeched May, abruptly getting to her feet and stomping over to Drew, all thoughts of fear and translucent bodies seemingly completely aside. "Take. That. _Back_!"

He only watched her bemusedly and didn't respond.

May took his silence as a challenge.

"Not everybody's had years of experience catching and training _real_ Pokemon, Drew!" she snapped. "I know it was luck to get all of my Pokemon but I hope you haven't forgotten the Eterna contest already because oh wait, remind me who exactly won that time, Mr. Big Shot-" She was abruptly silenced by a lone index finger on her lips. Wide eyed but annoyed, the brunette glared at him.

A corner of his lips quirked up ever so slightly. "I'm just kidding."

And then May's mouth fell and her hand fell back down to her side and her face froze and slacked and just like that, her previous anger had disappeared. Her eyes fell from his and she looked down, a slightly confused and forlorn look on her face.

"Why do you do that?" she said quietly.

"Do what?" said Drew, slightly alarmed at her sudden change of mood.

She looked at him, an unreadable glint in her eyes. "Be so bipolar."

"What?"

"Make fun of me, but not meaning it one percent of the time. Ignoring me one minute, and then running through the rain with me the next. Slipping me a rose, but saying it's because you're into...into...pokephelia!" she ranted, flinging her arms up in exasperation. "I mean, really, Drew, I don't understand what you're thinking, but that doesn't mean I'm an idi-!"

"May!" interrupted Drew, eyes widening in surprise as he quickly reached out a hand to grab May, who had just seemingly been struck by something flying and was falling back...

...back into the railing and through it.

"MAY!" shouted Drew again as May's high-pitched scream was abruptly cut off by a loud, terrible splash. He mentally swore and quickly crossed the distance from where he was to where May had been last. He leaned over the railing to look down into the dark, ominous waters. Without a moment of hesitation, he snapped a Pokeball off of his ball and threw it down onto the ground. "Masquerain, tell the others," he was muttering one second, and the next, he was climbing over the railing and diving headfirst into the water.

As Masquerain stared, shocked and confused, a figure sneered in quiet satisfaction and silently slipped down the stairs.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

Oh Drew you're so cute

uh regular updates? what's that ahaha...yeah I'm a loser

Thanks for reading and reviews are greatly loved!

-Apheleia


	24. The Call

The room was gray, cold, and brick. Aside from the meager amount of moonlight through the slit of a window, it was dim. Aside from the chained, curled-up man in the corner, it was lonely.

He was barefoot and clad in pale rags, already worn from time. Upon closer inspection, the dark bags under his eyes contrasted the rest of his pale, dirty face. His long tea green hair—which had, once upon a time, actually been somewhat well-kept—fell in dirty, messy masses around him. His eyes, once a sharp, ambitious greenish-gray, were now dulled from a past of sins. The chains around his ankles served as reminders of his mistakes, and everyday, as he grew skinnier, the chains had become heavier.

Night and day, day after week after month, he'd sat in the lifeless room, always waiting but never anticipating. He had long since lost track of time, although it didn't quite matter—what purpose did time serve if there was nothing more to do, to live for? The days were long and the nights were even longer...

...though it happened to be one of these nights when his life once again took a fateful turn.

It was halfway through the night when there was a sharp rap at the door to his prison. He didn't answer or move.

A "screw this" sounded and then the prisoner lifted his head up just in time to see a hole being singed into the metal right above the lock. Soon, the better half of the door had melted, and a boot kicked the rest of the door in. Two people entered his cell, and he recognized neither of them. It seemed that they were clad in street clothes. It was clear that neither were guards, but why hadn't the alarm sounded?

Questions flitted through his mind, but they were quickly shoved aside when he was abruptly made to stand up by one of them, a teal-haired girl who was being more forceful than her small frame seemed to be capable of. She and the other infiltrator studied him for a moment, and he studied them back.

"Let's go," the girl said finally, pushing him forward. "Just so there's no confusion...let's make it clear that we're rescuing you from this place, but lucky for you, you're still a prisoner."

He made no move to physically resist her. "I don't need rescuing. I just need repentance."

"Talking noble won't get you anywhere," said one of the other figures, a cyan-haired boy who couldn't have been less than eighteen.

"You are now under the control of Team Galactic," the girl hissed. "You can try to repent all you want; it's not our concern."

"That's right," continued the boy, shoving N forward. "After all, Natural 'N' Harmonia Gropius, even if you were once upon a time the king of Unova...in our plans, you'll be nothing more than a pawn."

* * *

Damn it, thought Drew as he dragged a limp May up onto Flygon, who was hovering lowly over the cold water. He turned his head to get a full 360 of their surroundings, but he saw nothing except for vast expanses of dark sky and endless water. _The ship's already out of sight...getting her took longer than I thought._

With one last grunt, he pulled the unconscious brunette up onto Flygon's back and settled her in front with her back towards him. He wrapped his arms around her torso to steady her even as Flygon bobbed only gently up and down.

She's cold, he realized. It quickly occurred to him that while "transparent", objects could pass through May and the others. The thought of seawater having passed through the brunette was worrying but likely, and when she "solidified", what if the salty, dirty water had stayed in her?

_If she gets sick..._

"At the very least, she can't afford to stay cold," he muttered. _I'm completely soaked, too...and none of my Pokemon can warm somebody without a Flamethrower. Maybe she...? _Pushing the awkwardness of the whole situation aside, Drew reached for her belt area and began fumbling around for a PokeBall—specifically, one that would feel warmer than most...

"Got it," he said to nobody in particular, and a flash later, a small, orange-yellow chick appeared in May's lap.

Torchic blinked at Drew.

"Hey...I don't really know you, and you don't know me, but I've got your trainer here and she's...kind of in a bind," said Drew awkwardly.

Torchic stared.

"Uh...would you mind cuddling with her?" he asked gingerly, sensing that the Pokemon didn't trust him and holding out his hand slowly in an attempt to convince it so.

The fire Pokemon shifted uneasily for a moment before cautiously leaning forward and appearing to sniff the scent of Drew's hand for a moment. Then it froze and snapped its head up at Drew with wide, horror-struck eyes as if a terrifying realization had just occurred to it. Before Drew could do anything to calm it, it had scampered back to May and seemed to be attempting to dig into her chest with frantic, high-pitched chirps.

All the while, Drew had been staring at the Pokemon. His forehead was creased as he tried to recollect the little he had heard about this particular Pokemon in passing. He'd only heard about May's grand befriending of the Pokemon and that it had trust issues or something.

Wondering if his hand really smelled that bad, he brought it up to his nose and lightly sniffed. Well...it smelled like musty saltwater, but it was far from a Koffing. Giving up, he sighed and looked down at the dark water.

"Guess we'll just have to wait until morning...heh," he chuckled as he realized the strain that would put on the Pokemon beneath them. "Sorry, Flygon."

* * *

Drew wasn't quite sure when he fell asleep, but he must've at some point, because he awoke to the sting of the light of dawn against his eyelids. With a start and a light blush, he realized that, albeit numb, his arms were still wrapped around the brunette in front of him. He sincerely wished to withdraw them, but doing so might wake—

"Finally awake, sleepy head?"

—or not.

"Says the one who fell into the ocean and passed out," muttered Drew, promptly letting go of May and just like that, feeling began creeping back into his arms. "Are you okay? What even happened?"

"Tor_chic_," mumbled the Pokemon, blinking blearily as it came back to consciousness.

"I remember getting hit by something," recalled May, her voice a bit distant. "And then...I fell backwards...and there was nothing to stop me." She paused. "And then you jumped in right after me, didn't you?"

"...What do you think, genius?"

Even though she still had her back towards him and he couldn't see her face at all, he had a feeling she'd rolled her eyes.

But...

"...Thanks," he heard her say softly. "Even though I'm not really sure what happened...but, you know, now that I think about it, maybe it was a Pokemon attack, but I'm not really..."

A inexplicable chill ran down Drew's spine at her words, but he just ended up saying, "Well...as long as you're okay."

It was then that May turned her head to the side to look at Drew the best she could. It was interesting how the vermillion morning lit up her face to be just as warm, and her smile was bright.

"Thanks."

A half-smirk began playing on his mouth before he could even help it. "Sure."

"So...I'm sure Flygon's exhausted from hovering all night," said May, turning back around again. "The Canalave coastline is right over there; I can see it. I messaged the others by PokeGear before you came around, and they know we're alright. Solidad says that they'll be at the library in half an hour. So..."

Drew raised an eyebrow. "So...?"

May turned her head to look at him again, her eyes lighting up. "How fast can Flygon go?"

* * *

To be honest, despite having spent the past few days in this general area of the city, she had no idea where they were going.

So they'd been planning to spend another few hours at the library before leaving for Celestic Town this afternoon—sure, _she, _at least, had thought that was a decent schedule. She thought he'd thought, too. But then while they were checking out of the Pokemon Center, she'd noticed he was strangely quiet as he handed his key cards back to Nurse Joy. Then, during their grabbing of a quick breakfast, he had remained oddly silent. After that, the plan _was _to head to the library across the famous Canalave Bridge, but then, wordlessly, he deliberately passed the street leading into the Bridge and began heading for the side of town they hadn't been in while ignoring her confused shouts.

So now she was just walking behind him, glaring at his back while pouting and thoroughly fed up with his spontaneously cryptic behavior. It'd already been about ten minutes, and now, the scenery was beginning to shift into a dock setting filled with intermodal containers and various types of watercrafts.

"What, you think riding in a freight container's going to make the trip back to Celestic faster?" she finally bit sarcastically as they passed one.

He stopped.

_Finally, you jerk._

"How does it feel?" he said, his back still towards her as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

Thoroughly confused, Leaf crossed her arms. "How does _what_ feel?"

"Being lost," he said simply as he turned around halfway, a grim expression on his face.

Slightly intimidated (though she'd never show that), Leaf pursed her lips. "How do you follow?"

"Not knowing anything...except that you know somebody _knows _what you want to know...but they're purposefully not telling you. Somebody _nearby_." He emphasized the last word as he looked straight at Leaf, his cold dark eyes burning ice into her.

A chill went down her spine. She knew very well what he was talking about, but it'd been an unspoken agreement since they met again in Pallet Town to dance around this. Why was he bringing this up now?

"I'm bringing this up now," he echoed, and it suddenly struck Leaf that she had actually voiced her thoughts aloud, "because of _this_." With that, he swiftly slipped a thin black device out of his pocket and held it out in front of him.

The screen turned on to a picture that Leaf identified as a screenshot. It was a conversation, though the particular shot only captured seven messages inside green and blue speech bubbles. The header said that "Gary Oak" was the other conversationalist.

"_ha so will you do something like that for me in senior year?"_

_ "tch...pesky woman"_

_ "...you testicle"_

_ "creative"_

_ "i try. so yeah? :)"_

_ "sure sure. with you, it'll be an obligation"_

_ "TESTICLE WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN"_

Leaf stared at the screen for a good three seconds before slowly turning her gaze on Gary, murder in her eyes. Much to her annoyance, he didn't flinch.

"_When_ did you_ get my phone_?!" she snarled before quickly lashing out and retrieving the device, an action which Gary relented to without a fight. She immediately turned it off.

"This morning. It was wrong of me to look, but you were in the bathroom..." he trailed off, and Leaf was suddenly aware that he was advancing towards her. She began backing away, an instinctive reaction to her having a feeling that they were, conversationally, heading in a horrible direction. "More importantly, those texts are dated December 2011. In both my phone and yours...I've never seen messages after July." He fixed another jab of ice on her, accusing, suspicious, and angry. "Did you delete them?" He was still walking towards her; she was still backtracking.

Until she hit the side of a freight container with a loud bang.

Cornered, she realized frantically as he took the opportunity to slam a hand beside her ear, earning a flinch from her. He leaned over her slightly, and as she beneath him, he began to feel more and more intimidating to her. His eyes stared straight into hers, searching but finding nothing.

"_Did you delete them_?" he repeated in a low hiss, poison on the tip of his tongue.

"...If I did?" she whispered, unable to form too many more syllables than that in one go.

"Why?"

She looked away and furrowed her brow, stubbornly answering nothing.

"_Why_?"he repeated angrily, and she heard the shift of his hand to his forearm and knew that his body was now much closer to hers than it was before.

Her willpower was beginning to crumble, and the lingering warmth of his breath on her ear was making sure of that. Damn it if he wasn't attractive, if he had never been attractive, if he never _will _stay attractive. Her hands were beginning to tremble and _God damn, why did he still have this effect on her_?

Sometimes, she speculated, _What if I just "to hell with this" and tell him? What's even the big deal?_

And then she'd remember that that was exactly that, that it _hadn't _been a big deal, and that the only person who had seen it as a big deal was probably her.

"Why won't you tell me?" he whispered, and she was surprised by how pleading his tone had suddenly turned. "I know that you and me, we were just...best friends...what went wrong?"

"We..." It was so easy to finish that sentence, that thought. Minimally, it'd just take one word. Two syllables. Of course, going in-depth would take another few hundred, but...

She swallowed and steeled herself to meet his gaze again, and she mentally fumbled by the childish desperation in his eyes.

"You...you and me, we..."

"_Leaf_?" said a disbelieving voice from behind the brunet towering over her. "Is that you? And...hey, aren't you the Gary we met at Professor Oak's lab?"

_Thank God,_ thought Leaf as Gary immediately straightened and both of them turned to look at the newcomers. The sight of a perplexed-yet-knowing May and Drew was just surprising enough for her to not slump down against the freight container out of sheer relief, and she would've laughed at the annoyance plainly etched into Gary's face if it wasn't for the drama high she was on.

_ThankGodthankGodthankGod._

* * *

So he and May had found Brunet and Brunette, as he called them, in a rather compromising position. So the guy had glared at him and May for a thirty seconds while the girl babbled about something along the lines of, "He accidentally tripped and...um...caught me off guard and...it was an accident!" So then she and May had given each other a quick hug while he had just stood coolly and watched them while studying the other guy—who looked considerably frustrated—with furtive glances.

So May had proceeded to ask them where they were heading, and so the girl—Leaf, was it?—had responded the Canalave Library, to which May had beamed and proclaimed, "That's where we're heading to, too!"

So then they had embarked on a northern trek to the Bridge and then crossed the structure to find the Library no more than a block away. Then they had entered the building and searched the floors from bottom-up for a sign of Solidad and the others. Quickly finding Ash on the first floor, they discovered from him that the plan had been for everyone to spread out throughout the library and try to cover as many sections as possible.

And so, in short, that was how Drew found himself browsing a section of the third floor of the library with Harley and Solidad.

"This is fascinating," murmured Solidad, flipping through a leather-bound book.

"Really?" said an unimpressed Harley as he stared down a flamboyantly pink-bound novel. "You know, honey bunches, the first floor had magazines, and oh! I _really _need to know this month's fashions—"

"Then go," deadpanned Drew, who was browsing the shelf.

Harley "tsk"ed. "Drewy, Drewy, Drew..._don't interrupt me._ Anyways, as I was saying, last month, Marina said that Delibird scarves are in season this month, but since it's already almost the end of December, then I think Archeops-styled thing will be _much _more 'New Year's', don't you agree?"

"All you ever wear is that stupid Cacturne costume anyways," muttered Drew under his breath.

Drew swore he saw a vein throb on Harley's temple. "Drew, _honey, _did you just insult my _lovely Cactur_—"

With a clearing of her throat, Solidad interrupted conversationally, "So, Drew, I...take it you're aware of..."

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Aware of...?"

Solidad paused and looked up from her book to glance at Drew. "Time."

The realization of the topic that she was getting at made the boy pause, sigh, and run a hand through his hair. He glanced at May, who was with June on the other side of the floor. "Yeah...I guess."

"Ohhh," mused Harley as he looked from Solidad to Drew to the other side of the library to Drew again. "Our Drewy-kin's having trouble choosing between helping the runty new girl and the glamorous Grandiose Festival, is he?"

Solidad watched Drew silently. Drew didn't tear his gaze away from May.

"...No," he finally said as he began walking towards May and June, "I'm not."

* * *

"So..." began June conversationally as she looked up from a textbook of Sinnoh geography, though the word was also drawled out to be teasing. "You and Drew...for a whole night..._alone_."

May snorted into a magazine titled, _Sinnoh Myths! _before staring at June with an expression plainly saying, _Really_?

"Aw, c'mon...do you even know how worried we were about you? Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing that the klutziest friend you have isn't there—say that she's always been a glutton, so you assume that she went to get food or something, but then the ship lands the next morning and she's still nowhere to be seen..."

"Did you just insult me _twice_ in one sentence—"

"And then we're all running around until Solidad _finally_ gets a message from an unknown PokeGear number saying that it's you and that Drew's with you and you'll be at the harbor soon and you'll meet us wherever we are. Imagine us wondering for hours _how_ you fell into the water anyways and how _Drew_ was supposedly close enough to jump in after you and pull you to safety on his Flygon...and then we all just returned to our business."

May laughed sheepishly. "Well...I can explain most of that." And so she retold the tale all the way from waking up in the middle of the night to finding Leaf and Gary by chance when they were flying in.

When she finished, June was quietly regarding her with a suspicious look. "So you're _positive _that there was no confessing—"

"June..."

"Or tongue—"

"June—"

"Or sexytime in general—"

"_June_!"

Just then, a forearm landed on May's head and the brunette tried to look around at the perpetrator as Dawn arrived on the other side of June.

"I heard sexytime," came the unmistakable drawl of Brendan from above.

"A.K.A. what didn't happen to May," offered June.

"Well, that's boring," deadpanned Dawn.

"Well, I'm sorry my life isn't your personal drama show," snapped May with a huff.

"It's alright," sighed Dawn. "Not everybody can be."

"...Anyways, you've had a few hours. What've you guys found out?" said May, abruptly changing the topic and whacking Brendan off.

"Fun stuff, actually. For example, did you know Unown can be caught, guaranteed, with a Dusk or Repeat Ball?"

"How about things _related _to getting out of this place, Professor Brendan?"

"Aw, thought you'd never ask," said Brendan, grinning as he pulled out a relatively thin, new-looking black book from his backpack. He pulled out a chair from beside May and sat down. "_Legends of Lore: An Insight to the Sinnohian Past. _Actually, I speed-read through this, and there's a lot of stuff that the games have already covered.

"There's the three beings of lakes—Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, representing willpower, emotion, and knowledge, respectively. There's Dialga and Palkia, time and space, and since this was published pretty recently, it has everything about that Lucas guy and Team Galactic, too. There's stuff about Cresselia and Darkrai—full moon and new moon—and Regigigas, Shaymin, Manaphy—"

"We follow," interrupted Dawn. "Anything we don't know?"

Brendan shifted uneasily. "Well...kinda. You know Sendoff Spring? That place where we end up after the Distortion World in Platinum?"

The other three nodded.

"Well...here, it's known as the 'fourth lake of Sinnoh that was kept secret'. It wasn't until Lucas found it that some archaeologists and researchers found that there's actually a link between it and the Distortion World."

"So? That was kind of implied. What's the big idea?"

"Well...here, let me show you the paragraph." He looked at the book from the side and, after a short moment, found his dog-eared page and flipped to it. He began reading aloud. "'Though, as we all know, the other three lakes all belong to the three lake guardians, Pokemon who are distinctly different from all others found in Sinnoh. Why, then, is Sendoff Spring, out of everything else in Sinnoh, the lake associated with Giratina, a power very different from the other lake guardians?'"

"...Brendan," said May, her eyes filled with confusion and surprise. "Is this book..."

"Implying that Giratina, once upon a time ago, was a lake guardian like Azelf and the others? Yeah." His brow furrowed. "Yeah, it is."

* * *

"Pika pi?"

"Huh? You think this one's good, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu pi!"

"If you say so," said Ash as he took the book Pikachu had pointed at off the shelf. An elaborate depiction of Arceus graced the cover. "_Seven Days_, huh? Maybe it's like the Pokemon version of Genesis in the Bible. Y'know, like day one, blahblahblah created stuff. Day two, created more stuff..."

"Pika!"

"Yeah? How are you so well-versed in Sinnoh lore, bud? Maybe you're secretly Shaymin in disguise?" teased Ash.

"Pi..."

"Anyways, let's go find Brendan and the others and sit down. Maybe they've found something," said Ash, turning to walk down the endless rows of books. As he did, a pair of hushed yet arguing voices became clearer and clearer.

"...done with you and your secrets!"

"Everything just revolves around you, doesn't it, Gary? Oh no, the great Gary Oak doesn't know something! Somebody tell him before he blows up the world!"

_Gary?_

"You're being irrational," hissed the brunet. It sounded like they were on the other side of the bookshelf to his left, so Ash tip-toed over and peeked over a row of thick encyclopedias. Sure enough, there was Leaf and Gary, faces flushed and eyes angered. He had never been an eavesdropper (alright, maybe a little), but he still found himself angling his ear closer and closer to the direction of the other two teenagers. "You're not even telling me _why _you're keeping what happened from me!"

"It's not even a big deal, I've told you that, so just give up already! We're not friends anymore, so just accept that!" hissed Leaf.

"But we _were_! You know what, Leaf? I remember the day you got a Gameboy and we played Pokemon all night under your sheets. I remember the day you got a B for the first time ever on your report card and we spent the rest of the day playing banana tag with the other kids, and at the end of the day, I pushed you on the swings even though I wasn't tall enough to push your back once you got high enough, so I had to jump every time and you laughed but it was worth it because you'd been crying earlier that day. I remember _all _of that...just not a few months before the accident!"

"Congratulations," bit Leaf sarcastically.

"Leaf," pleaded Gary, and frustration and tiredness colored his tone. His voice lowered. "Look at me..._Larissa Adeline Green_—"

Ash jolted. _Larissa...Adeline Green? That's..._

"—_look at me_. Maybe if you told me...maybe we could be friends again..."

"That's...too idealistic of you," chuckled Leaf bitterly, and Ash swore he heard her sniff.

Gary sighed. "Then...maybe we could start over? Hi, Larissa, or do you prefer Leaf? Either way, I'm Gary Oak, and we should be friends."

Silence.

"...when we first met, you tripped over the sandbox and landed on your face," said Leaf, and Ash was pretty sure there was the slightest amusement in her tone. "Then I laughed at you with the kid I was playing with..."

"Oh, yeah, I remember him," laughed Gary, and Ash was suddenly aware of the turn in mood of their conversation. "What was his name? Adrian?"

"Ashton," corrected Leaf immediately. "Ashton...Ketch...?"

"Ketchup."

"Ketchu_m_."

Then a pile of encyclopedias fell onto the ground on Leaf and Gary's side of the bookshelf to reveal a wide-eyed Ash, who had accidentally knocked them over. His arms were splayed where the texts had been, and his sudden appearance clearly shocked Leaf and Gary as well, who were staring at the boy as if he were from another world. Pikachu hung comically from his shoulders, but nobody was laughing.

"I...guess I know your secret," was what Ash finally came up with after several seconds of shocked, awkward silence.

* * *

Drew had been heading for May and June's table, _had_, until Dawn and Brendan showed up. He slowed as the four quickly fell into a banter of sorts, and he watched as Brendan eventually sat down with a book and seemed to show the others something that made their mouths drop in surprise.

For a moment, he wondered how it'd be to be Brendan. On one hand, where he was from, there were no real Pokemon. On the other hand, there was May...

..._wait, what_?

He stared for another moment, and then he scoffed to himself. A person, a _girl _he had just met a few weeks ago (that he might, _might _have..._stirrings_ for) over a career, no, a _life _of Pokemon? Ludicrous.

Then again...didn't he just decide to Harley and Solidad that he would continue to help out May and her friends even if it meant the cost of a Grandiose Festival?

He frowned. _Maybe I'm thinking too rashly..._

Though, right then, before he could wonder if he was thinking too rashly, the PokeGear in his pocket began to buzz. He swiftly brought it to his ear and, without even checking the caller ID, flipped it open and murmured, "Hello?"

"Hello, Drew,"the voice on the other end purred, and Drew jolted and tore his gaze away from watching the Riverwater teenagers to glance in horrified shock at the screen of his device.

He stared at the screen for another second, took another few to compose himself, and then hissed with all the front and false courage and malice he had, "What do you want?"

"Well...if you haven't heard the news already, allow me to be the one to deliver to you first-hand the knowledge of Natural Harmonia Gropius being in my hands," chuckled the voice. The sound was that of a sadistic torturer well-versed in the ways of anguish.

Drew stiffened and nearly dropped the PokeGear. He could've doubted the man, the guy _could've_ been lying, but somehow, Drew was entirely convinced that he just...well, wasn't. After a few seconds, when he tried to speak again, Drew found that his throat was terribly dry as he scratched out, "_Why_?"

"I am sure you are aware as to 'why'," said the voice coldly. "Now...please consider your options, Mr. Hayden." The voice chuckled. "Of course, that sounds so very formal...and we're hardly strangers, aren't we, Drew?"

And then the line went dead.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

i don't blame you if you've forgotten about this story like really apparently it's been almost two months since i've updated this and that's just pathetic really

(in defense I blame it on until-7pm rehearsals and end of year projects and finals and I AM ALMOST GRADUATED!111!1!1! [but eh i'm staying at the same school for high school so there's really no difference and it's still going to be awesome/terrible so whatever])

hopefully this chapter picks up the pace for a lot of things :p really, I actually have a looot of things planned/made up for this story, it's just that most of all that will probably be revealed in the last, like, 25% of this story and there is very little way to incorporate it earlier lol (on the bright side, you are a little over halfway done with this story, hurray!)

thanks very much for reading! :) (reviews are super appreciated, as always!)

-Apheleia


	25. The Champion

"Hey, May?"

"Yeah?" replied May distractedly, barely looking up from the book that she was skimming intently, furrowed brow and all.

"Did you hear me?" said Brendan with a sigh.

"Er...you called me?" she said sheepishly, finally looking up.

"Before that," he said amiably as he moved to lean against the table that May was sitting at.

"Before?"

"I asked if you wanted to go to brunch. We're leaving now," articulated Brendan with a smile, apparently for the second time. He nodded at Dawn, who was absorbed in a book as well. "Same goes for you, Berlitz. Going through all the mythology books in this place without a break—or food—_really _doesn't seem like you guys."

"Are you calling me fat? May, did he just call me fat?" demanded the blunette, to which May and Brendan responded to with a chuckle and an eye roll.

"So yeah? C'mon, Ash is getting restless. He hasn't eaten in a whole hour," said Brendan, lightly teasing the sophomore who wasn't there at the moment but rather outside the library entrance.

"Thanks, but I'll pass," said May with a soft smile, though her tone was weary.

"Same, but bring me back something, won't you? Preferably a latte," mused Dawn.

"What'd you say? Black coffee? Wow, Dawn, you're getting sophisticated. Alright, that's _one black coffee_, any more orders before the Brendan train pulls out of Suddenly Doing Service Hours For Dawn Berlitz Station?"

"Get out of here," scoffed Dawn as she grabbed a sheet of looseleaf paper from the table, balled it up, and chucked it at the boy's head. As Brendan grinned, put up a defensive forearm against the incoming weapon of mass destruction and began backtracking his way out of the library, Dawn whisper-yelled after him, "And _two_ sugars! _Not _twenty!"

The two watched the boy mouth something back that neither could decipher with certainty, though both concluded that it was something along the lines of, _That was Ash's fault!_

"He thinks he's funny," muttered Dawn. "He thinks it's funny, but if I taste that latte and find out that it's actually sugar milk, I'm_ going to get__—_"

"Him back for every bad thing he's ever done to us?" suggested May playfully, putting her elbow on the table and propping her face up on her palm.

"...Get diabetes," finished Dawn dejectedly.

May didn't fight the smile tugging at her lips.

"And, and—you know what else is so sweet that it gives me diabetes?" said Dawn suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows.

May thought about it. "Anything by Ed Sheeran?"

"True, but no." The blunette leaned across the table, and the knowing, scandalous grin on her face nearly made May want to catch up to Brendan and go to brunch after all. "_You._ And _Drew_."

Groaning, May suddenly felt an urge to knead her face with her palms. "Dawn," she whined, "I already explained this to June."

"Oh, so she gets the dirty deets and I don't?"

"There _weren't_ any dirty deets," said May, and despite herself, she giggled at the comically disappointed expression on Dawn's face. "Now, c'mon Dawn, focus. We stayed behind to pore over books, not gossip."

Dawn muttered something under her breath about being "no fun" and "wasting a chance with a cute guy" before sitting back into her seat. "Well, speaking of that, I wanted to ask you—did _you _think the bit about the fourth being and Giratina and Sendoff Spring weird?"

"Kind of, but...well, I'm not sure if I believe it," said May. "I mean, on one hand, Sendoff Spring being where it is and serving as the portal to the Distortion World makes some kind of profound sense, right? That's what the games back home taught us, and since that's pretty much what happened here, I don't think it's such a far-fetched stretch to accept that." She paused. "What do you think?"

"I think...we should be open to new ideas and theories," admitted Dawn, briefly looking down at her book, which was filled with overviews and details of Mount Coronet. "We can't assume that _everything _we know from home applies here. Things might _appear_ really, really similar, but dig a little deeper, and there's got to be differences somewhere, right? I mean, for one, there was nothing canon talking about five _very _attractive high schoolers teleporting from California, Earth to...various places, PokeEarth."

"Point taken," said May, smiling gently as she laid her chin on the table.

"And what's with you? Tired, I suppose?"

"Spot on," muttered May, her voice slightly muffled as she rolled her face over so that her cheek laid flat on the table. "It's not like I got a good sleep last night—I mean, when you almost drown and spend five more hours passed out on a Flygon, apparently..."

"By the way, about that...did you, by any chance, fall off because your body turned invisible again?"

"Well, it wasn't _fully _invisible," corrected May, thinking back to last night. "If there's light, then I can still see my skin, but it's on a much lower opacity than it would normally be." She paused. "But...yeah," she said, deciding against telling the blunette about the Pokemon attacks she thought she had seen.

There was a long pause, and for a while, only the hum of computers and murmurs of bystanders filled the air. Confused and a bit worried, May peered up at Dawn to find the latter with her brow slightly scrunched.

"What's the matter?"

More silence.

"...I'm scared," were the words that Dawn finally relented in a low, rushed whisper as she pointedly watched a blank spot on the table, and May recognized it as the blunette's way of trying to avoid tears. "The same thing keeps happening to _all _of us and it's getting more frequent and every time _it _happens, I feel like I'm that much closer to being completely see-through and I hate returning to my normal, opaque self because I know that then, I'm just going to dread it happening again but I'm scared that if something doesn't happen soon that we'll just keep getting closer and closer to total transparency and if eventually disappearing won't kill us, then the side effects like falling off a ship will and before long, people are going to notice us and how freaky we are and shun us and_—_"

"Dawn_—_"

"And I _know _that this is _somebody's_ way of telling us 'do something soon or else' but we don't know what to do or even where we're going and we're here in Sinnoh researching Sinnohian mythology because of a hunch and a professor and _what if we're completely wrong and wasting our time_, May?" gasped the girl and May could do nothing, only watch, as Dawn worked herself farther into hysterics. "Maybe all we're supposed to do is feed a Miltank somewhere eight Oran berries and then we can all go home, or maybe we're supposed to save the world somehow like everyone else who has ever played a role in Pokemon—except you and me and Brendan and June and Ash? We're not heroes because we're just sophomores and a freshman from West Riverwater High in northern California, USA, North America, Earth and...all...all I want to do is see my mom and house and phone charger and curl up in my bed and never forget what it's like _to be home_!"

Dawn was panting now, her face splotchy with red and her body shaking slightly. May watched the girl with her mouth ajar for a moment before quickly closing it and reaching to place a hand on the blunette's. Dawn's gaze darted down to the new pressure and stayed there.

"It'll be alright, Dawn," soothed May. "Think about it. Even though all of us passed through so many regions and anything could've happened, it was in _Sinnoh_ that _Team Galactic _pulled something on us, and I don't think it's just because we were breathing. There's something fishy about them, and since this is a different dimension, well, Giratina..."

"I...I just want to go home," whimpered Dawn.

"I know. We'll get there." May squeezed the younger girl's hand. "I promise."

* * *

"Best. Lasagna. I. Have ever. Had. In. My. Life," proclaimed June as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. She proceeded to lean back in her chair, taking in the breeze and city sounds that only an outdoor patio cafe could provide. "Now that I know what heaven's like, I can go back to that library and read until my brains bleed out of my ears and I die."

"I see what you did there and I guess you're ready to go back then," chuckled Brendan as he took another swig of water and stood up. When June copied him, he looked towards the others. "Anyone else coming?"

"No, thank you, tootsie roll," said Harley, rising along with Drew. "Drew and I are off to the fabulous Canalave to destroy the other competitors!"

"What about Solidad?" wondered Ash, looking at the coral-haired coordinator.

"The Eterna City contest made my fifth ribbon, but I'm going to watch. There's always something to be learned at a contest," replied Solidad, standing up as well.

"Right, then...Ash? Are you staying here a bit longer?" said Brendan.

Ash nodded but didn't speak as his face was stuffed with pasta.

"And you guys will be leaving soon too, right? " said June, pulling on a hoodie and directing her question to Leaf and Gary. "Man, it's suddenly gotten kind of cold..."

"You think so? Well, at least it's a _fabulous _time to pull out my Wigglytuff shawl," interjected Harley.

"Yeah, don't worry about us," said Leaf dismissively, giving a discrete sidelong glance to her traveling partner. Gary turned to look at the brunette, their gazes meeting for a quick moment before he returned his eyes to the standing teenagers. "We're leaving Canalave right after this, so we'll probably end up loitering as much as possible before we actually go."

"Sounds good," said Solidad with a slight nod and a pointed look at the sky overcast with gloom as far as the eye could see. "Just be careful—actually, all of you be careful. The weather doesn't look like it's going to hold at all."

"'Kay, well, see you guys later," said Brendan, waving good-bye with June as the two turned and finally headed off.

"We should leave, too," murmured Solidad, rising to join Drew and Harley and backtracking somewhat. Her companions nodded. Harley waved in much the same way as Brendan and June while Drew simply gave the remaining teenagers a silent nod of acknowledgment before sticking his hands in his pockets and trudging away with Solidad and Harley following after.

"And then there were three," muttered Gary, raising his water bottle to his lips.

"I never understood that book," said Ash, having finally swallowed the mouthful of pasta. "That judge guy should be grateful that he was rich, or else he never would've been able to kill all those people like he wanted to in his fancy psychological way."

"Justice comes at a price," said Gary, though his words were pointedly directed to not Ash, but the other person still at the table. The said person rolled her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line.

And then, for a considerably lengthy, uncomfortable while, Gary and Leaf sat in silence while Ash, put off, tried to pick at whatever was left of his food.

"So...this sexual tension," laughed Ash awkwardly, but the boy shrank at the shocked and slightly murderous looks Gary and Leaf proceeded to give him.

"You're imagining it," said Leaf shortly.

"Aw, c'mon guys. IIt was a long time ago, and even though I don't understand a _lot _of things that's happened since then, we all used to be like _this_." With a grin, Ash intertwined his index and middle finger and held them up, emphasizing his point.

"I don't understand a lot of things that's happened since then, either," deadpanned Gary, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms, and giving another pointed look to Leaf as if blaming her for something.

A question suddenly formed in Ash's mind and as the raven-haired boy recalled the short conversation they'd been able to have after he had fallen through the bookshelf, he decided to continue that conversation now for what it was worth.

_A pile of encyclopedias fell onto the ground on Leaf and Gary's side of the bookshelf to reveal a wide-eyed Ash, who had accidentally knocked them over. His arms were splayed where the texts had been, and his sudden appearance clearly shocked Leaf and Gary as well, who were staring at the boy as if he were from another world. Pikachu hung comically from his shoulders, but nobody was laughing._

_"I...guess I know your secret," was what Ash finally came up with after several seconds of shocked, awkward silence._

"_The way you say that...gives me a good idea about yours, too," said Leaf softly, her surprise slowly melting away with each second._

"_...When...I mean...how long?" stammered Ash._

_Gary and Leaf exchanged looks and paused as if having a telepathic conversation wondering "should-we-or-should-we-not?". Then, several shrugs and mouth pursings later, Leaf turned back to Ash and Gary decided to occupy his eyes with the dark gray carpet underneath their feet._

"_Since six and a half months ago," replied Gary evenly._

_Ash's eyes visibly widened again as he tried to wrap his head around the thought of staying here, _here_ in a world without family or familiar sights for _six and a half months.

"_How...? That's..._—"

"_YOUNG MAN!" bellowed a voice suddenly, and all three teenagers cringed before darting their eyes to the source of the shout, which happened to be an aging yet passionately livid, short yet incredibly intimidating woman with large glasses, graying hair, and a skirt and shirt that reminded all of them of the 1960s. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THROUGH THAT BOOKSHELF AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THOSE BOOKS?!"_

"...Run_!" whisper-shouted a terrified Ash, who pulled his upper body back to the other side of the bookshelf and, with Pikachu squealing and hanging loosely from his shoulder, running for his life while Gary and Leaf stayed behind with sheepish grins on their faces, apologizing, and promising to clean up the mess._

"So...question: you guys have been here for...a while," began Ash tentatively. "How are you not...I mean...not disappeared?"

"Oh, you mean the flickering thing, right?" said Leaf, to which Ash nodded. "Well...we _should _have disappeared a long time ago, I think, but the thing preventing us from probably disappearing is..." She reached into her shirt's neckline and pulled out the violet pendant of a silver necklace that Ash vaguely remembered Dawn and/or June fawning over that time in the diner in Cerulean City all those days ago.

"_That_?" said Ash in slight disbelief, and his eyes flickered over to Gary to see the brunet bringing his pendant into view as well.

"This," confirmed Leaf.

* * *

The sky revealed by the library's glass ceiling was dark and cloudy and the reason why there were fat drops of rain pelting the very glass panels themselves. Occasionally, a flash of lightning would light up the library and it would be followed by a rumble of thunder that seemed to sometimes shake the structure itself.

It happened to be one of these lightning-thunder combinations that woke up May, who had fallen asleep hours ago on a book and hadn't woken since.

Blinking away the crusty rheum (or, as she called it, "eye poop") that had gathered on her tear ducts, May noted that Dawn was no longer directly across from her, and the brunette could only assume that the younger girl had gone off elsewhere in the library. May shrugged and then emitted a small, satisfied sound from the back of her throat as she began stretching freely, enjoying the dull ache of her muscles lengthening.

That is, until her hand was promptly stuck into a waterfall of soft, silky hair that May hadn't meant to touch and didn't even know was there. With a start, her arm quickly recoiled and she looked to her right with a slightly horrified expression on her face.

There, sitting beside her, was a young, blonde woman who didn't seem to be older than thirty. She was studying May just as May was doing to her, only she was smiling amusedly at the fact that May had just unwittingly invaded her long, blonde locks.

"I-I'm very sorry!" May whispered hastily, her other hand holding her perpetrator hand as if it would go off and stick itself into the woman's hair again if she didn't. "Er, I...I was stretching, and I didn't notice you there!"

"It's quite alright," said the woman with a kind smile, and she spoke with a sort of regal, sophisticated air that May had always imagined of queens and First Ladies. She then returned to her work, which seemed to be taking notes on several books and documents splayed out in front of her.

May should've gone back to minding her own business then, but...the woman's dark trench coat, dark slacks, and signature black-and-gold hair accessories seemed awfully familiar. Add that to the way she carried herself, and suddenly, the pieces of the picture came together and May realized that this woman sitting beside her and taking notes on mythology books was—

"Cynthia!" blurted May before she could help herself. Cynthia, slightly startled, turned her head and looked at May before smiling politely again.

"Yes. And you are...?"

"Ah...May. I'm from...Hoenn."

"It's very nice to meet you, May. I'm a bit surprised you recognize me. Hoenn _is _a bit far from Sinnoh, after all," said Cynthia conversationally.

"Well...it's not a difficult feat to recognize a Champion," said May a tad sheepishly. "Er...word gets around, especially in your own region."

"Yes, that's certainly true," agreed Cynthia. "What brings you to Sinnoh? Are you a trainer?"

"I'm a casual coordinator more than anything, I suppose," laughed May awkwardly.

"Oh, yes! I remember you now from the Eterna City contest. That was a spectacular first try, I might add."

"Thank you," said May shyly, and it suddenly dawned on her that she was making small talk and being complimented on a Pokemon performance by the Champion of Sinnoh. The result was a decent amount of mental staggering.

"I hope you'll find an interest in the Pokemon League challenge. I'd be quite honored to face you in battle."

"The pleasure would be mine," countered May, to which the Champion smiled. The conversation faded a tad there, and May noticed Cynthia's eyes trail with interest over the books that May had been working on getting through earlier.

"You're a fan of Sinnohian mythology?" mused Cynthia, her eyes still trained on the various titles and covers.

"It's just research," said May. It wasn't a _complete_ lie. "If I recall correctly, you know a lot about all of..." She gestured to the mounds of books between herself and Cynthia. "...This?"

"Yes, mythology has been a favorite pastime of mine for a long time. It occasionally comes in handy," chuckled the blonde. "Though, like any other branch of academics, I find that it is constantly changing."

"Changing? But...it's mythology," May mumbled, genuinely confused. "How can it change?"

"Perhaps that's the wrong term. What I mean is that the more we learn and speculate about what really happened, the more, it seems, that what we already assumed shatters. For example...are you by any chance aware of the events on Mount Coronet several years ago?"

_I think I _played_ through the events on Mount Coronet "several years ago"_, returned May mentally, but she nodded her head and said, "Yes."

"Well...due to texts we read prior to that incident as well as how Giratina behaved when it showed up at the Spear Pillar, we thought it safe to conclude that Giratina was generally very aggressive and always had been. Many legends depict it as evil, power hungry, antagonistic, and for a very long while, that is what I believed as well. However, after the events of Mount Coronet, Lucas and I ended up in Sendoff Spring after leaving the Distortion World. I found that strange, and so I investigated further. I found theories—several, in fact—suggesting that Giratina was, in fact, a long time ago, a Lake Being just like Azelf, Uxie, and Mespirit."

A chill went down May's spine as the words Brendan had verified to them just that morning repeated in her mind.

_"Implying that Giratina, once upon a time ago, was a lake guardian like Azelf and the others? Yeah. Yeah, it is."_

"Please...continue."

"I dug deeper. I cracked open texts so old that they were written in ancient Unown and reexamined pictures painted by Pokemon millions of years ago, and though it was much more difficult than the research I conducted prior to the events of Mount Coronet, I discovered that the ancients referred to Giratina as the Being of Divergence. It was verified that, like the others, it had a small blue body but a red head design. Its lake was the biggest and was where Mount Coronet is today. It was just as friendly as the next lake being, but it seemed that eventually, it became greedy for power and wreaked havoc when Arceus did not comply. Giratina's form gradually morphed, and Arceus banished it to the Distortion World."

"Is that particularly difficult for you to believe?" said May softly. This new information wasn't exactly groundbreaking for her, as the Pokemon world back home was constantly changing and evolving, but perhaps it could've been to the natives.

"No. In fact, the difficult part was when I had to _not _believe this," said Cynthia, her smile a tad coy. "Shortly after finding that out, a question began gnawing at my mind. The pictures depicted the red lake being as becoming evil quickly after Arceus created space, matter, and time. For Giratina to have turned selfish so quickly means that there must've been a fault in its...circuitry. But Arceus's aim was to create a world of peace, of perfection, and it couldn't have been an accident. Why, then, would Arceus have made Giratina, a Pokemon that Arceus _must _have known would go on to sin?"

May was quiet at this. The gears in her head turned, though no product was churned out. Cynthia's propositions made sense and fit together. Though they could've easily been false, right now, the brunette knew they were better than what they had so far to go on.

"Cynthia, do you have a copy of the pictures that you said you looked at?" said May, thinking that perhaps an attempt at making something out of the pictures would better than trying to comprehend ancient Unown.

The blonde nodded and, after a bit of digging through a manila folder on the table, retrieved two pictures and handed them to May. Both were of crude cave paintings in a clearly limited assortment of colors. Both had a four-legged white and yellow creature that May assumed to be Arceus, and in both pictures, Arceus stood alone facing the left. In the first picture, it was facing a small blue thing, a gray bird of sorts, and a green thing that vaguely reminded May of a Carnivine. In the second picture, it was facing a blue and red thing that May reasoned to be what Cynthia thought was Giratina, and a red similar to the color of its head colored the area around it.

"What's that?" asked May, pointing to the crimson oval surrounding Giratina.

"I assumed that to be Arceus banishing Giratina to the Distortion World," replied Cynthia. "Unless...you have any other suggestions?"

"Well...red is my favorite color, and where I'm from, red symbolizes fire and blood. Therefore, it can also represent life, passion, war, and danger, but it can also represent sacrifice."

"...The divergence between life and death," mused Cynthia.

"If you want to think about it that way, I guess," said May, though inwardly, she marveled at the way this was all tying together. "So...maybe Arceus or Giratina has to or is sacrificing itself to the Distortion World. After all...it's not exactly a place anyone would _want _to live in, is it?"

"It is not," admitted Cynthia, looking considerably impressed. "That's a very reasonable proposition, May."

"Thank you," murmured May, feeling sheepish.

"Although...would that imply that, perhaps, these Pokemon before attempted to sacrifice themselves but failed?"

"Maybe the sacrificed Pokemon had to be powerful enough? Or maybe it even had to be a legendary?" suggested May.

"Perhaps...but I have reason to believe that this," said Cynthia, pointing at the blue blob in the first picture, "is Azelf. Assuming that it is, why would Arceus reject Azelf and not Giratina, especially considering that they are both lake beings?"

May furrowed her brow. Her brain whirred. She opened her mouth to speak. She closed it without saying a word. Several moments later, she opened her mouth again, but no words came out. Cynthia chuckled.

"This is the frustrating part of mythology, May, though it is arguably the most fun," said Cynthia, smiling widely.

May's brow continued to crease, and her frown only deepened.

Cynthia laughed. "You know, May, you remind me of myself when I was younger. If you're that interested in mythology and have more time to spare in Sinnoh, I recommend traveling to the lakes or Celestic Town. There are always ongoing excavations and new things to learn there, though I don't recommend Mount Coronet as I'm rather sure that ever since the Spear Pillar incident, the majority of it has been sealed off."

"I guess," said May weakly, still slightly put off by how excited and smart she had been feeling until she was brought crashing down. She was vaguely wondering if Cynthia had planned that when a buzz in her pocket caught her off-guard. "Excuse me," she mumbled and pulled the PokeGear out of her pocket. Courtesy of the flashing icon on the lock screen (that also handily told her that it was 8:23 at night), it was immediately evident that she had a new message. She pulled it up and saw that it was from Drew.

_"Tell you and the others to come back to the center. Storm's getting worse."_

"I...have to go," said May uncertainly, wondering just how bad the storm really was.

Cynthia nodded. "It _has _gotten bad out there. I think I'll be returning home soon as well."

"Mm, okay, well...thank you for everything," said May, gathering her things to leave. "I learned a lot from you just now."

"It should be me thanking you," said Cynthia with a small smile. She extended her hand to May with a small nod, who took ahold of the Champion's hand and shook it gently. "Take care."

May grinned at the woman. "You, too."

* * *

"...and then I left," finished May, having just retold her entire encounter with Cynthia with as much detail as she remembered.

"That's incredible," marveled Dawn.

"And a lot to take in...first non-canon thing we've run into, huh?" mused June as they took a step forward in line.

Due to the storm that had suddenly fallen and seemingly had no intention of letting up, there were many more travelers waiting to reserve a Pokemon Center room than usual. As a result, in the fifteen minutes it had taken for May to fully recount her tale, they were only halfway to the desk.

"I guess now, it's only a matter of whether or not we believe this," said June, shrugging. "Did she say those findings were official or something?"

"No..." admitted May. "But, you know, it's _Cynthia_, Champion of Sinnoh. Who could be a better source?"

"I think that's interesting, actually," interjected Dawn. "Since the events of Mount Coronet happened and Lucas exists and all that, I wonder if he went on to dethrone her? I mean, that's what was supposed to happen in the games."

"I don't know. I didn't ask," said May.

"Maybe he stepped down?" suggested Dawn. "People do that, after all. Red, for example."

"Do you think Red exists in this world? Because he is _the _sexiest guy _in the entire franchise and I would__—_"

"_June_! There are _kids _here!"

"...Pat his Pikachu and dress him up and then dress _Red _up with a dress and a blonde wig as Red...ley...Renee? Reynald...Rey—"

"I think we're in the weird part of June conversation again," whispered May to Dawn.

"This keeps happening lately," replied Dawn, ignoring the glares and eyes rolls from a certain blonde. "Maybe it's the lack of Tumblr."

"I don't even Tumblr!" shouted June. "I don't even have one. I'm afraid that if I signed up, then my life will disappear before my very eyes."

"What if your life is completely fulfilled by Tumblr?" challenged Dawn.

"...That's a valid argument," said June, frowning. "But it probably doesn't, because seeing a picture of the Grand Canyon on a screen is different from actually going to the Grand Canyon and seeing it..."

And on and on the two went, debating about Tumblr and life. May, assuming that the conversation about _important_ things was put on hold, tuned the two out, wondered vaguely where Ash and Brendan (who had made a beeline for the cafeteria the moment they stepped foot into the Center) were, and began noncommittally surveying the room.

After several moments of watching a burly, rugged hiker doze off in an armchair and a young man groom his Growlithe, her attention was caught and held by a television screen in the corner of the room. She couldn't hear the device, though the captions and flashing words were more than easy enough to read. The channel was set to a news station, and the camera had just cut from the studio to a shot of a large, simple, stone building. A sign near the edge of the screen labeled the structure as Castelia City Penitentiary.

"..._escaped prisoner's name is Natural "N" Harmonia Gropius, former puppet king of the since-disintegrated Team Plasma. Gropius was arrested two years ago after the events at his castle, where he was defeated by Touko White, a then-aspiring young trainer. Reports say that at least one outside person aided in the escape last night, which included a disarming of all alarms associated with his cell. There was no sign of struggle, suggesting that the escape may have been pre-planned. As of now, the convict is still at large. Investigators are working with the Unovan government to attempt to track..."_

_N, huh_? thought May, recalling the playthrough of Black she had once done on one of Ash's several copies. If she remembered right, N had flown away on his Reshiram/Zekrom after the entire ordeal at his castle, and the man wasn't pursued by the authorities, unlike the other higher-ups of Team Plasma. _If he was in prison, I wonder if the people here thought he was a bad person? After all, he had good intentions, but..._

"_In other news, a record yet expected storm is currently devastating Canalave City_," read the captions as the screen cut to a shot of the numerous ships being ravaged in the Canalave docks. "_The storm began only a few hours ago, but hurricane-level winds are tearing through the city and the river is close to flooding. Experts conclude that the phenomenon is due to several thousand agitated aquatic Pokemon in the surrounding waters who, for some reason, are all relentlessly using various destructive weather-altering moves such as Thunder and Rain Dance. This is the sixth time in a week that all Pokemon of a given area in various areas in the regions have been acting strangely. Residents and travelers have taken refuge at home or the local Pokemon Center..._"

"Hello? Anybody home?" called Dawn, rapping gently on May's temple.

Surprised and a tad irritated, May reluctantly looked away from the television, turned to the blunette with a huff, and asked, "What?"

"We got the key," said Dawn, waving the plastic room card a few times in front of May's face teasingly. "So if you want to spend the night in the lobby, be my guest, but we'll be going upstairs."

"Geez, I'm coming!" groaned May, but even as she hurried after Dawn and June, she couldn't shake the idea that there might be a connection between the eerily quiet route where she met Torchic and the berserk water Pokemon surrounding Canalave City.

* * *

It was several hours after they checked in when May found herself ambling downstairs to the Center's cafeteria. It was late to be eating (and apparently, eating after nine o'clock wasn't healthy), but along the way, May reasoned that the lone slice of pizza Ash and Brendan had saved for her just wasn't enough as a growing girl's dinner.

_Just a cup of fruit_, she had promised herself as she pulled open the door to the cafeteria. The plan had been to grab a parfait and run_—_especially since she doubted anything else in the room to hold her attention_—_but then, as she was closing the refrigerator, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a blob of signature chartreuse hair. Another second later and she identified the figure as Drew sitting at one of the tables, his face dimly illuminated by the PokeGear he was apparently staring at.

The more May neared him, the more _bad _she noted him to look. His eyes were glazed over, his hair was slightly disheveled (which, for him, was a dramatic occurrence), his mouth was angled downwards, and there were dark circles under his eyes that suggested things about the boy's sleep patterns recently. Even more, he didn't notice May's presence until she poked him in the head and he turned to her with a slightly irritated expression as his PokeGear's screen immediately switched to black.

"Whatcha reading?" May attempted conversationally, looking down at him innocently as she peeled away her yogurt lid.

"Nothing," he said smoothly, and then he raised an eyebrow. "Eating after nine is unhealthy. You'll get fatter."

"...Implying that I'm fat _now_?!" she screeched (though quietly, as there were a few other people left in the cafeteria).

He smirked.

She resisted the urge to punch the smirk off of his face.

"Anyways, you should be in bed. This might not be home, and your mommy and daddy might not be here, but you still have rules."

"You're one to talk," grumbled May. "The bags under your eyes tell me that you've been a hypocrite lately."

"There've been things on my mind," sighed Drew, rubbing his eyes wearily. At May's inquisitive expression, he added, "Things that I'd rather not share at the moment, thanks."

"Just trying to help," muttered May as she scooped a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. "You don't always have to face things alone, you know."

"How would you know that I face things alone?"

"You seem like the type," said May with a shrug, to which Drew was silent. When he stayed quiet for another several seconds, May quietly ventured, "_Do _you face things alone?"

"Who's there to share the burden?" he retaliated.

"Friends. Family." She paused. "At the very least, you have Solidad."

Drew shook his head. "I can't talk to her about this."

"Then what about me?"

"_Least_ of all you."

May pursed her lips. That sounded personal.

"It's not personal," he followed up, and May's bitterness disappeared as quickly as it had come. Weakly, he added, "Just...trust me."

"...Alright," relented May, wanting to pursue the matter further but knowing it'd be disrespectful and sensing that the matter was officially closed, anyways. "So, um...how did the contest today go?"

He shrugged. "The appeal rounds were alright. Roserade breezed them," he said airily, as if it were no big deal.

"What about the battle rounds?"

"Didn't you hear? They're put on hold until tomorrow because of the storm, assuming it'll let up by then."

"I see," said May softly. Drew made no move to continue after that, so May, in an effort to keep the conversation going, tried, "So how many ribbons do you have?"

"Four," he said, a slightly cocky grin beginning to show itself on his face. "Solidad's fifth one was the Eterna Contest, and Harley has four, too."

May smiled, partly because the knowledge that talk of coordinating could bring a smile to Drew's face so easily was...wonderful. "Just one more, then!"

"Yeah," chuckled Drew. Then, more seriously, he added, "I hope you guys will be around to see it. The Festival, I mean."

"...I hope so, too," said May sincerely, watching Drew as he focused on nothing in particular in a direction away from her. A few moments, and a yawn eased its way out of the brunette's throat. Drew looked at her.

"You should go to bed," he said, slightly bemused. "Libraries really take a lot out of you, huh?"

She knew that he meant the statement sarcastically, but she still replied seriously, "Yeah." Rubbing her eyes, she continued softly, "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good luck at the contest."

"Yeah," said Drew as he watched her turn and begin to walk away. "You, too."

Several seconds later, the cafeteria doors swung open and shut once more and once again, Drew was left in a lunchroom with only dozing strangers who didn't have the luck to rent a room before they were all filled up.

With thoughts of the brunette still lingering on his mind, Drew pressed a button on his PokeGear and the device immediately sprang back to life again. The screen continued where it had left off, pulling up one short message from a number Drew had already grown to recognize, detest, and fear in only the last few hours.

_"Well, Drew?"_

The boy pressed his lips into a thin line and stared at the screen for the better part of a minute before slowly, reluctantly typing out a response.

_"...Give me more time to think."_

With one more forlorn look in the direction in which May left, Drew pressed "send" and slouched into a weary heap before exhaling a long sigh that he wished was a whimper instead.

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

lots of plot movement, not much of anything else :')

reviews are super appreciated, but thank you for reading anyways! x)

-Apheleia


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